In the Eye of a Pirate: The Vikings
by StoriesOfAnInsomniac
Summary: "Would you do it, though?" he asked softly. Hiccup shook her head. " I don't know. It's just... I'm not a killer. I don't see how humans are different than dragons, which we know I'm incapable of killing. If anything it's worse, even if they are Pirates." "They would kill you though," he argued. She shrugged. "All the more reason not to, then." Sequel to The Mirrors of Eyes
1. Chapter 1

_**And... WE ARE BACK! **_

_**Who's pumped?! I AM. :D**_

_**Whoop! Alright! So, here we are! It's finally time for, 'In the Eye of a Pirate'! You've read the quotes, now it's time to see what those all add up too. This is gunna be epic... **_

_**Okay so, just a little more info here... First of all, no, this is not going to be a rated M fic. Not that I have anything particularly against those, it's just that this is not the story for it. Vikings doing intimate things is like, a really big deal. Nothing is supposed to happen before marriage. Obviously, Hiccup and Ari are not married... yet... Plus, this is just not the story for that kind of rated M. If you want to write your own little one-shot, then whatever. (Ask me first, of course). But it will not be in here. But don't you fret. There will be plenty of kiss scenes and some heated moments... :D**_

_**There will be some parts of this on the line, however, but for a completely different reason. Things get pretty bloody later... Violent... Not meant for children's eyes... But it doesn't get TOO bad. Therefore, rated T. :)**_

_**Also, there is going to be a lot of the books in here. It won't be exactly like any of them, just pieces plots that I liked that I'm twisting in my own way. It's going to be great, don't you worry. :)**_

_**Alright! Time to get this show on the road! Let's have Ari open for us, shall we? :)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

The crisp, cold air blew softly through his hair. He closed his eyes, letting his other senses take over as the chill slowly turned the tips of his ears red. He could hear the ocean crashing against the bottom of the cliff he stood on. He could smell the salt coming off the waves. The snow flakes that had started to fall tickled his face and clung to his eyelashes.

Ari exhaled, blowing a cloud of his breath out in front of him. He opened his eyes. It was an incredible winter morning. The snow reached just above his ankles. The world was still, calm. It wouldn't be like that for long, though. A storm was coming. He could feel it. Winter had yet to fully set in. They had a couple of weeks, just enough time to put in one last hunting trip.

He sighed. There was nothing to hunt around there. A downfall to his early rising tendencies; everything was still asleep for a while after he rose. Everything, save one.

He grasped the whistle hung loosely around his neck and brought it up to his lips. The noise it made sounded quiet to his ears, high pitch. But to a dragon's ears, it was easily heard and recognized. Faintly, he could hear a 'skwak' in response to his call, then the familiar sound of beating wings.

He gripped tighter on the leather handle of his Battle Axe, then braced himself for the move. No matter how many times they had practiced it over the past six months, it still made his stomach turn and heart race in a mix of excitement and nervousness. She was getting closer. He took a deep breath, then broke in a full on sprint. He ran, straight towards the cliff. When he reached the end, he planted both feet on the edge, then pushed off with all his might.

For a few incredible moments, he was floating in the air. He closed his eyes again as he started to fall, speeding along the side of the cliff towards the rocky waters below. But he wasn't afraid. No, he knew he wouldn't even come close to the bottom. Freyja would catch him.

Another skwak, this one much closer. His eyes flashed open and there she was, the pretty blue scales on her back right where they should be, below him. He landed in the saddle with ease, quickly latching in his harness and axe in it's holder. With two clicks of his tongue, they were off.

The ease of their communication still astounded him. In just six months, they had gone from fighting one another in the arena to performing difficult aerial tricks requiring the utmost trust and skill. In just six months, everything in their world had changed.

Dragons and the Vikings of Berk lived in peace. For a while, it had been rocky. They had much to learn from one another. After a few regrettable incidents, dragons now accepted that Viking's were glued to their weapons and unwilling to give them up. The Vikings also became aware of some of the things dragons came with as well. Certain foods they ate, the social interactions between different breeds, where they slept, when and how they warmed themselves up, riding gear they would tolerate or not. It was a long, tedious process, but they managed, and the rewards were well worth it.

There were a few in the Tribe that still wouldn't accept the dragons fully. Those like the grumpy old bachelor Mildew tolerated them, if only a little. They had at least gotten to the point where they didn't regularly try and provoke the dragons or get them banished. They had all, with the exception of Mildew, grown past that.

They had all grown, even those fully sided with the dragons. Even the Chief had a dragon now; a Thunderdrum named Boris. The teens had undergone the most growth out of all of them, however. Almost every one of them had undergone their Coming of Age Ceremony. Hiccup's was the only one he could remember vividly. Even now, he could remember it like it was yesterday.

Even though she had already been given her title as Hiccup the Dragon Conqueror, they held a ceremony anyway. She received two weapons. A bow, which was becoming increasingly popular for the Dragon Riders of Berk, given you could hunt and fight with them while still on your dragon, and a blade. A beautifully crafted short sword with the crest of the Haddock name and the Hairy Hooligan tribe etched into the blade and a golden dragon head hilt, as well as a matching belt and holder to keep it in. The Ceremony didn't last long, most of the usual words having already been said, but Hiccup was officially named the Heir to the Tribe. She would be their next Chieftain. The crowd roared. Then, the party began.

As usual for any ceremony, there was lots and lots of Mead. Almost every Viking there was very drunk. The teens had had their fair share before, but none of them were big drinkers yet. Ari assumed they would be, given time and ageing, just like everyone else, but they weren't that into it yet. He had never even seen Hiccup take a drink before. Not until that night, anyway.

She started out with one, which turned into two, then four... He couldn't really blame her. It was her Ceremony, after all. And she was having so much fun. She was dancing and clapping, talking and laughing. Plus, he really enjoyed it when she grabbed him and yanked him out onto the dance floor. She was a bit clumsy, being a few drinks in, which really didn't help with her prosthetic. She was naturally a bit clumsy with that, as anyone with a missing leg would be. The alcohol didn't help. But she kept right on dancing, and he was strong enough to keep her upright.

At one point, as they were changing songs, she looked at him and a sort of darkness entered her eye. He recognised that look. He knew what she was feeling. _Desire. _Suddenly, a glint entered them as well, then she giggled and bit her lip before grabbing his tunic forcefully and pushing him back into a wooden beam.

She smashed her lips against his and pressed her whole body against him. Her hands were in his hair, her breath hot against his skin, and her tongue sliding across his lip. It was so incredibly thrilling. She had never kissed him like that before. He was having trouble keeping up.

But she was drunk, he reminded himself. Very drunk. Everyone else around them was too. Some so much so that they didn't even notice their heated session. The few that did didn't even care, shouting cat calls and humorous encouragement.

As much as he wanted to take their advice, he forced himself to stop. He pulled back, breathing heavily. Hiccup was too, a goofy, drunk smile on her face.

"Why did we stop?" she whined. She moved in again, but he stopped her.

"Do you wanna... Do you wanna, uhm, go somewhere?" he asked, still breathing heavily. Things were getting pretty out of control in the Hall. Someone had started giving the dragon's Mead as well. Even though they had massive bodies, it was clear that they were extreme lightweights. He could spot Toothless stumbling towards them. He didn't make it, collapsing in the middle of the Hall. Looking back at Hiccup, he could tell that she would too soon. He had to get her out of there.

She smiled again and leaned in, her lips just a breath away from his. "I'll go wherever you take me."

He fought the groan in the back of his throat. He couldn't take this anymore.

He led her out of the building. The walk to her house took a while, considering how wobbly she was and how she insisted on walking herself, but she was smiling and giggling the whole way.

"I mean, just look at me!" She gripped the black, decorated cloak she received at the Hero's Ceremony a few months ago and spun around, unsheathing her new sword as she did so. She stumbled at the action, but Ari caught her. She giggled again as his arms came around her before shouting at the top of her lungs, "Hiccup the Dragon Conqueror!"

Ari just shook his head, but a ghost of a smile played on his lips. He helped her sheath her sword again, then they continued walking, only this time he kept his arm wrapped firmly around her, keeping her upright. The party sounds started to fade in the distance as they neared the Chief's house. She looked up at him as they reached the steps.

"And you're... You're Ari the... the..." she frowned. "Ari the what?"

"I don't have a title yet, Hiccup." He practically had to carry her up the stairs.

"Oh." She giggled again. "That's right. You're just a..." She reached up and pinched his cheek, then giggled again. "...a baby!" She was in hysterics now. Ari just rolled his eyes, not even bothering to tell her that he was only three weeks younger than her as he heaved open the front door.

They made their way up the stairs, but after the second time she almost toppled over the side, he gave up and just picked her up. She didn't protest this time, however. In fact, she giggled again and her hands started to wander, her fingers playing with the collar of his own cloak and threading through his hair, then started kissing his neck in an incredibly distracting matter.

With great effort, he managed to focus long enough to make it to her room and set her down, gently pushing her away from him. She kept trying to touch him, but he resisted, focusing on the task of taking off her ceremonial crown, her cloak, and her belt and sword. He needed to get her to bed and get the Hel out of there. Hiccup wasn't helping things.

She giggled again. "You know... you should... like... ask before you take off my clothes. Or at least make it fair." She reached out and gripped his tunic, pulling at it. "If my clothes are coming off, yours are too."

She laughed again as he grabbed her arms and pulled them away from him. He exhaled sharply, composing himself, then helped her over to the bed. He set her down and laid her back, her smiling like a fool the whole time, then went to move away. He didn't make it far.

Suddenly, Hiccup grabbed his tunic and pulled with such force that he landed on the bed on the opposite side of her. Then she was on top of him, smashing her lips against his own and straddling his waist, tangling her fingers in his hair. His hands immediately found her slim hips, though whether to push her away or keep her there he wasn't sure. After a few seconds, he managed to come to some of his senses.

He broke away. "Hiccup," he gasped in a panic. She paid him no mind, however, and continued kissing him with as much force, if not more, as before. No, no, no, no. This couldn't happen. This needed to stop. They needed to stop. No, not before marriage, and _definitely _not while she was drunk. Hiccup would lose her honor. He would be banned or worse, for taking it from her, for taking advantage of her. Stoick would kill him. Hel, Hiccup would probably beat him to it once she came to her senses the next morning. But mostly she would be sad. He couldn't, wouldn't ever, do that to her.

He quickly flipped them over. Hiccup squealed in excitement, then tried to lock lips with him again. He pulled too far away, though, hovering over her. He could see it, that glazed look in her eye that told him she was on the edge of consciousness. She just needed a push.

They were both panting. "You're..." he tried. "You're really... tired, aren't you?"

That made her stop. She frowned, brows furled. "...What?"

He nodded. "Yeah." Slowly, he leaned down and softly kissed her cheek. "You're really tired," he breathed into her ear. He kept kissing her softly, her cheeks, her head, her nose. She sighed, her grip on him already loosening.

"Yeah... I am..." she agreed. He pulled back slightly to see her eyes fluttering shut. He grinned softly in victory. She wasn't asleep yet, so he kept kissing her, her eyelids, her cheek again, her neck. Always so soft, nothing that would encourage her, all the while whispering her assurances of how tired she was. Quicker than he had hopped, Hiccup fell into a deep sleep.

The corner of his mouth turned up in a rueful victory. He brushed some of her copper hair aside and leaned down, planting one last, soft kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight, Hiccup."

He placed a fur on her and quickly exited the building. There he found Freyja waiting for him, looking much more sober than anyone else on Berk. She had steered clear of the stuff as well. He took a moment, as he pet her head, and leaned against the door, resting his head against it and breathing in the cold air, letting it reach his bones. Gods. He couldn't even imagine what might have happened if he been drinking as well. Well, he could, but he did his best to force those thoughts away.

He shook his head. "Come on, girl," he said, pushing off the door. "Let's go home." She fell into step behind him. Already, he was shivering. But that was a good thing. He took the long way home.

Freyja squawked as her powerful wings began to slow. They were nearing the village. He pressed his ankle to her side, steering them towards the Chief's house.

Hiccup had remembered that night, or at least some of it. He knew as soon as he saw her the next day and she turned a shade of red he didn't even know was possible. He assured her that nothing happened and she made him promise to never let her drink so much ever again. They grew past it, though, and came to laugh about it later. They had all grown, in more ways than one.

His own Ceremony came and went. He was now Ari the Stouthearted. Courageous. Determined. Stubborn. Strong. He received a bow as well and beautiful new Axe, crafted by Hiccup herself, with a handle length that matched his new found height. He had grown several inches in the past half year. All the boys had, much to Hiccup and Ruffnut's annoyance. They now all stood at least a head taller than both of them. They were bigger, stronger, skilled sixteen-year-olds, right on the edge of being an adolescent and a full-blown Viking. There were only two things left; Snotlout's ceremony and the hunting trip, which is exactly what Hiccup should be up training for.

He hopped of Freyja with ease as they landed in the front, then quickly made his way to the door and knocked loudly. No answer. He knocked again. This time, Stoick came to the door.

Ari immediately bowed his head in respect. "Good morning, Chief."

Stoick nodded, moving aside for him to come in. "You here for Hiccup?"

Ari stepped inside. "Yes, sir. It's time for training."

"Then off to work after, I suppose?"

Ari nodded. Right. Off to work to earn money to buy Hiccup's hand. His odd jobs filled most of his afternoons. "Yes, Chief."

Stoick nodded in approval. "Good man." He looked up towards the second floor at the stairs. "You'll have her yet, you will."

Ari blinked at him in surprise. The Chief would say things like that sometimes, odd words of encouragement. It was strange, considering how at first he had been so threatening. That, and there was a time when Ari though Stoick would never let Hiccup marry anyone, that he would kill any boy that came near her. But at some point, he wasn't sure how or when, Stoick had accepted Ari and his pursuits. Perhaps he had even accepted him from the beginning, not that he would ever admit it.

Stoick looked back at him now, gesturing upwards. "She's still asleep in her room. I swear, her an' that beast are the laziest things to walk or fly on Berk." He moved towards the door again, opening it and stepping out. "Go and wake her. When she's done training with you, send her to me for my training sessions." Chieftain lessons, for when she took over. Years had been wasted due to the thought that Hiccup would never even come close to authority. Now, her days were packed with training with Ari in the early morning, then Chieftain lessons, then Dragon Training. It was a lot, but he helped her through it.

He bid the Chief farewell, then made his way upstairs. He found Hiccup lying on her bed, hidden under several furs. A fire burned in the mantle, Toothless laying in front of it. The dragon lifted his head at the boy's entrance, but soon yawned and laid back down, unfazed.

The made his way to the bed, not even noticing the uneven lumps of her legs beneath the fur anymore. Time had made him immune to the missing leg and prosthetic. It was a part of Hiccup now, or lack thereof, and therefore didn't even make him blink.

"Hiccup," he said firmly, pushing at her shoulder. This was the only time in the world when he wasn't gentle or nice to her, aside from training. Waking Hiccup up in the morning was nearly impossible, and he had learned that he needed to be firm with her, or she would never get up.

Hiccup groaned in response, burying her head under her pillow. Ari rolled his eyes. "Hiccup, come on," he said, pushing at her shoulder again. "It's time for training."

"You and your training can shove it," he heard her mumble bitterly. Despite it all, this made him smirk. He loved every side of Hiccup that he'd met so far. This one was, in his eyes, despite what it should have been, adorable, like so many other sides of her.

"Come on, Hiccup," he chided. "You can't sleep forever."

She brought her head out from under the pillow, only to drop it on top. "Toothless and I are just fine sleeping as long as freaking feel like." There was a huff of agreement from the black mass at the other side of the room.

Ari rolled his eyes again, but he was still smirking. "I see. And how do you plan on escaping the wrath of your father?"

She turned her head slightly so that one eye was looking at him. "I defeated the Red Death. Do not doubt me."

He chuckled softly at that. "Well, when you- Hey. Is that... Is that my shirt?" It was. One of his long sleeve blue tunics. Hiccup was wearing it, she was _sleeping _in it, though it was way too big on her. One of her shoulders was completely exposed. He thought he should be annoyed, but surprisingly, he found that he wasn't.

Both of Hiccup's eyes opened at that. Carefully, slowly, she looked down at the tunic. Then, just as slowly, she looked up to meet his eyes. She held his gaze for a few seconds, then, before he could blink, she pulled the fur over herself, completely covering the tunic and what he was sure was her blushing face.

"No," he heard her deny. "You are mistaken."

He chuckled again. "Well, I'd sure hope it's mine. I'd be concerned if it was anyone else's." He heard her groan in frustration and embarrassment. "Tell you what," he went on. "You get up and meet me in the forest in ten, and I won't tell anyone about you stealing my clothes, okay?" She grumbled some more, but then finally agreed.

He shook his head, still smirking, then turned and walked out to go to their usual spot in the woods to wait for her. Gods, he liked that girl.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**There ya have it, folks! Hope you liked it! If you did, please let me know. :)**_

_**SO, this is about the time where I put a really awesome quote in from the upcoming story... Oh that's right. You guys don't even know what it's called! :D Well, prepare yourselves, cause here it is...**_

_**From the upcoming story called 'Through the Eyes of Children', I give you a quote from non other than... Hiccup!**_

_**"It's hard to believe it's been two years, isn't it?"**_

_**Those of you who are hoping for a fluffy story about Hiccup and Ari raising adorable little mini Hiccup and Ari's, I'm sorry to say that you will be very disappointed. I'm not giving you any hints though, except, of course, the quotes at the end of each chapter. :D**_

_**Well, that's all for now! Tata!**_

_**~StoriesOfAnInsomniac**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey guys! Happy Monday!**_

_**First off, YOU GUYS ROCK. Seriously, 13 reviews already? You're just... amazing. Hands down. :D**_

_**Second, I think I neglected to mention in the first chapter that I'm only posting on Monday's for right now. Sorry! It's just for the next six weeks. That's all I have left of school, and I really need to focus on passing all my classes. Then, on June 10th I will graduate and I'm all yours! Well, I'll have more time for the story, anyway. :) Starting the week of June 15th, posts will resume to Monday/Friday. **_

_**Lastly, I'd like to thank again those of you who helped come up with some names for the teen's dragons. You guys rock. :)**_

_**Now, no more talking. Let's get on with the story, shall we?**_

_**Enter Hiccup and Toothless!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

The girl and her dragon yawned simultaneously. With a groan, Hiccup rolled over to check the status of the sun through the crack in the window. It was dawn. Barely so. She sighed and dropped her head on her pillow, lying flat on her back. She closed her eyes, the thoughts of the day's events playing through her head.

First of all, the downside to being involved with the 'Perfect Viking' meant that he woke her up early every day for training. They would practice bow and arrow, sword fighting, and hand to hand combat. As the months had passed, the training had become less and less physically taxing as she built up strength and endurance. It was still tiring, but the fact that she was doing it one-on-one with Ari made it bearable, to say the least.

Next she had her Chieftain training. Normally, this would have started at a young age. But for many years is was widely accepted that Hiccup wouldn't even come near a level of authority. Now, however, no one could picture anyone else taking over but her. This meant that all that training that was supposed to have started years ago was being crammed in now. Granted, she was still young, and the chances of her inheriting the Tribe anytime soon were slim. But, in the unthinkable and unlikely event that her father died, she was old enough to take over at any point. However, she was far from ready. That meant Chieftain lessons.

Her father conducted most of them. He took her on all his Chiefly duties, instructing her on how to handle food and goods production, ceremonies, trades, deals, and political matters alike. She liked her training sessions with Gobber better, though. He taught her things like Chieftain etiquette and how to speak in front of large crowds, things Hiccup had a hard time taking seriously. It's safe to say that those lessons were far more entertaining at the expense of her mentor.

"All ye hear today shalt be witness to the joining of-" She couldn't help it. She broke out in a fit of giggles.

Gobber, who had been circling around her as she stood on the stool and recited the lines, sighed. "Lass, if you're not goin' to take this seriously, we're not goin' ta get nowhere."

"I'm sorry, Gobber," she told him once her laughing had died down. "It's just, why are we doing this? Perfect posture, thick accent, loud voice? That's not me. If I'm leading the Tribe, shouldn't _I _be leading them?"

"Authority figures are supposed to look just that; authoritative, above everyone else," he explained. "It's the air about ya tha' they respect. Now, try it like this." He turned his back to her, addressing the imaginary crowd with the same lines as she was. Little did he know, while he was turned, she was silently mimicking him perfectly, making a big show of it. Toothless, curled up in the corner, snickered at the sight.

Gobber whipped around, Hiccup returning to her previous stance in perfect time, though she was struggling to maintain a straight face. Gobber glared at her. "You think yer funny now, do ya?" He circled around her again, poking the stick latched to his prosthetic hand around her, straightening her posture. "Straighten up, eyes forward, an' speak from yer middle. You'll recite the lines ten more times."

She smiled. Most of their training sessions were like that. She was getting better, though she had yet to actually address a real crowd.

Her dragon yawned again, bringing her thoughts to the last task of the day. Dragon training. Her, Ari, and the other teens were all Dragon Trainers. They tamed new dragons that came in or caused trouble, taught others how to ride, and just studied their own dragons. Some days, her favorite days, they would all just go out flying. Racing, daring, playing games. There was no better way, she discovered, to spend an afternoon.

Today was particularly busy, however, causing her to doubt how much free flying time they would get. As well as having to teach a few stubborn grown men how to fly, Ari was preparing her for their hunting trip, as was her father. It was just a week away, and she dreaded it more than anything. Winter was settling in, leaving time for one last hunting trip. Most years, adults would go. Every few years, however, it was the teens that went.

Most of them, with the exception of Snotlout, had received their titles. They had gone through their ceremonies, received their weapons. They were almost full-blown Vikings. But there was one last tradition, one last test, that they had to go through to prove themselves, and that was the hunting trip. The thought of this is that they would prove themselves strong, skilled, able to care for themselves and their Tribe. They would be sent out, the six of them, on a boat to the other side of the island where they would hunt for three days, then they would come back and Snotlout would have his ceremony soon after. The thing was, no one else was coming. Not the adults and, having been decided, not their dragons either. They were on their own.

The thought of being alone wasn't what was so terrifying. The six of them had slept out in the cove or meadow by themselves several times over the summer (with their dragons, of course). But this was different. Winter was dangerous, as were hunting trips. Temperatures were freezing. Wild animals other than dragons roamed the woods. They could get sick or hurt and they'd be at least a day away from help. Yes, the hunting trip was the most dangerous thing that the teens had to go through, even more so than dragon training. There, they learned skills on how to fight, how to beat the dragons. But the hunting trips, while they could learn certain survival skills, they were completely at the mercy of the forces of nature. So while almost every teen made it through dragon training, not all of them came back from the hunting trip.

Already, she had a disadvantage. Her leg. She couldn't run very well. She was clumsy. Random patches of ice would send her flying. Plus, she tired easily when having to walk long distances in the cold. It made her leg ache.

Ari had told her that she could stay, that no one would blame her for not going. After all, she _did _save the world. She had proved herself enough. But no. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't, couldn't, let the people think she was weak in any way, unable to go on a hunting trip. She couldn't ride on the deeds she had already done, nor could she treat her prosthetic as a disadvantage, an imparity. Plus, what message would she be sending to the people? When she took over, she couldn't let them remember the time when their Chief was too weak to go on a rite of passage. No, she had to show them that she was more than the girl that had defied tradition and tamed a dragon. She wasn't just Hiccup the Dragon Conqueror. She was a Viking, and she would prove it to them all so that no one could hold it against her when she was named Chieftain.

Gods. 'Chieftain Hiccup'. Just the thought made her head spin. But she couldn't dwell on that now. Toothless had made his way over to her and was licking her face, persuading her out of bed. She really should get up. Several minutes had already passed, and Ari the Stouthearted was not a patient boy.

"Okay, okay," Hiccup grumbled, pushing at Toothless' head. She sighed. "I'm up." Toothless cooed as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, then jumped over her to the other side of the bed. He reappeared by her side with her prosthetic in his gums. She thanked him with a kiss on the crown of his head and put the contraption on with ease. After nearly six months, it was practically second nature.

She got up to change, but stopped for a few moments before doing so and played with the fabric of Ari's tunic between her fingers. Yes, she had stolen it. But... she couldn't help herself. There was something about the way it felt to have the shirt that usually covered his skin touching hers. And it _smelled _like him. Ari had a very distinct husky scent, one that could calm her in seconds and made her feel safe, and she found herself craving it. Therefore, she stole the shirt from his room when he wasn't looking. Now she didn't sleep well without it.

She blushed slightly, knowing that he had found out. He didn't seem to mind, really. In fact, he sounded almost amused. No doubt that meant she would be teased about it relentlessly. _Oh well_, she thought as she balled up the fabric and held it up to her face with a smile, breathing in deep. _It was worth it._

Quickly, she finished changing into her winter garb, which consisted of many fur lined layers, topped off with a green hooded overcoat. Lastly, she grabbed her latest invention; two wool pads, held on opposite ends of a thin, curved metal sheet wrapped in leather. She slid the thing on her head, effectively covering her ears with the soft wool.

Toothless cocked his head and cooed. She smiled. "No more cold ears," she explained triumphantly.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

The flight to their usual spot in the woods didn't take long. They touched down a ways away though, preparing themselves for their favorite game; pounce.

She had yet successfully sneak up on Ari, singlehandedly that is. He had such good hearing, was so in tune with the world around him. Plus, it was nearly impossible to be quiet with a prosthetic. But her and Toothless had come up with a plan.

They could hear him ahead, already tossing his axe around. Slowly, silently, Toothless crept around to where he was, Hiccup on his back. Freyja's head popped up as she noticed them, but she didn't make a sound. Carefully, they crept closer and closer... until they were right behind him.

Biting her lip to hold in her laughter, Hiccup unhooked harness and stood on the saddle, once again slow and silent. Then, just as he pulled his axe free from the tree, she unsheathed her sword.

Ari's shoulders tensed up. He had heard that. Before he could even turn around, Hiccup jumped on his back..

She gripped firmly at his torso, her legs wrapped around his waist and arms around his shoulders, held her blade to his throat, and pressed her smiling lips to his ear. "Gotchya," she breathed.

She felt his breath catch. It took several moments, but he soon found his voice. "How did you-" He was cut off by a snicker from the Night Fury behind them.

He spun around, Hiccup still attached to his back, to face the sound. His eyes narrowed. "You helped her?" He turned again to Freyja. "And where were you, you lazy Nadder?" She merely squawked in indifference. He turned his face to Hiccup. "You used Toothless and my own dragon against me. That's cheating."

She laughed and slid off him, sheathing her sword. He turned to face her. "Well, you know," she told him as she ran her fingers along the handle of his axe, "I've always liked cheating."

Again, quicker than he could react, Hiccup moved. She gripped the handle and swung her prosthetic behind his leg, tearing the axe out of his hands and knocking him to the ground. She pinned him, his axe pressed against his throat, each point of it digging into the ground on either side of him.

She leaned on the end of the handle, gazing down at him smugly. "Gotchya again."

His face broke out in a wide smile. He chuckled. "Gods, I'm in Valhalla..."

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too. She lifted the axe, brushing off the blade and pretending to admire it. "Well, if shield maidens threatening to cut you open with your own weapon is what you're into, there's more where that came-" She yelped. Ari had reached his foot up and knocked her legs out from under her, just as she had done to him. She fell forward, the axe sticking to the ground beside them with a 'thud', and was caught in Ari's arms.

They were face to face, lips barely an inch away from each other. She blushed at the sudden closeness as he gazed up at her, smirking, and brushed her cheek lightly. "Good morning, Hiccup," he hummed.

Already, her heart was pounding, her stomach fluttering as she anticipated what was to come. Despite the many months they had been so close, Ari still had a remarkable effect on her. She had been a bit wary around him physically ever since the... incident. But she was very very drunk then, and Ari would never take advantage of her like that. Granted, they did a lot more than some married couples in the tribe, aside from the actual wedding night. They were confident that they could control themselves, however. They had to. Not doing so would be the end of them both.

But they were fine. They had yet to actually do much other than the occasional nap together or make out. Ari was very respectful. It was all so incredibly addicting, however, which had made their session become longer and more frequent. Not that either of them minded.

She smiled. "Good morning," she hummed back.

He stroked her cheek again, then brought her lips down to meet his. It never got old, kissing him. In fact, it only made her want more. But just as she gripped the fur on his vest and turned her head slightly to deepen the kiss, they were interrupted by a voice.

"You know, you guys are going to melt the snow sucking face like that."

They broke apart and turned their heads in the direction of the voice. It was Ruffnut, leaning against the handle of a chopping axe in a similar fashion to how Hiccup had, looking down the hill at them with a mischievous glint in her eye. Fitting, considering how her and her twin brother's title was Ruff and Tuff the Mischievous.

Hiccup scoffed. "You're one to talk. As I recall, I saw you getting _real _friendly with Fishlegs behind the Mead Hall the other day." Another thing that had changed in the past six months; Ruffnut and Fishlegs were engaged. It had been arranged, but neither had any objections to it. Fishlegs had always liked her, and though Ruff had at first been... reluctant, everyone could see that the large boy had grown on her. They were due to be married in just three weeks, after they got back from the Hunting Trip.

Ruffnut shrugged as Tuffnut and Doppelganger appeared behind her. "That's different. He's my fiance. You guys aren't even engaged." She thought about it a moment. "Well, not technically, anyway."

This time, Ari spoke up. "What are you doing out here, anyway?" he asked, a bit annoyed at being interrupted.

"Chopping wood," Tuffnut answered, setting down his own work axe and brushing back his bangs. "What's it look like we're doing?" Hiccup still couldn't get over his hair. Still longer than any of the other boys, but significantly shorter than it had been. It was just long enough to be pulled back into a ponytail, though pieces hung loose around his face, which he was constantly running his fingers through to push back. It had been a dare. Who had given it, no one could quite remember. All they knew was that Snotlout had carried it out, and one morning Tuffnut woke up with a hangover and shoulder length hair. The morning following, Snotlout had woken up with one eyebrow. These things just tended to work themselves out.

He ran his hand through his bangs again and threw the axe over his shoulder. "Didn't know we'd be getting a show while we were doing it."

Hiccup rolled her eyes, blushing slightly, and looked down at Ari. He showed no sign of embarrassment whatsoever. In fact, a mischievous look entered his eye. "Oh, you haven't seen nothin' yet."

Then, quicker than Hiccup could process, Ari freed her of her bow and quiver and flipped them over, smashing their lips together in a heated kiss. She immediately melted underneath him, the thought of Ruff and Tuff standing right there escaping her thoughts, and threaded her fingers through his hair. Vaguely, she could hear the twins exclaim in mock disgust and walk away, warning them that they would be back to check on them in a few minutes, so clothes better stay on. Toothless and Freyja stalked away as well, determined to look anywhere but at the kissing Vikings. But Hiccup paid them no mind as Ari deepened the kiss, and embarrassing moan escaping her as he did so. She felt him smile in response. She mentally rolled her eyes. Great. Male pride.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but eventually she was feeling dizzy due to the lack of air. She pulled away, gasping. His lips never left her skin, making his way to her neck softly. "We really are going to melt the snow," she told him, trying to catch her breath.

He stopped, a deep chuckle escaping him against her neck. He lifted his head and gazed down at her. "Now would that be so terrible?"

Her blush deepened, but she raised her eyebrows at the challenge. "It would be if my father found out. Or worse; Snotlout."

He smirked. "We could blame it on a rouge dragon flame."

She went to say something back to this, but didn't get the chance as they were interrupted once again.

"Hey!" someone shouted, strong dragon's wings accompanying him. Snotlout and Inferno landed next to them. The large boy hopped off with ease and started towards them. "Paws off my cousin, pal!"

In recent months, Snotlout had become oddly protective of Hiccup. It might have something to do with things they had gone through, her being kidnapped by Outcasts, for one. They had tried to force her to train dragons for them. Of course, she didn't, and the group had rescued her, Snotlout being one of them. Ari was super protective of her now too, though he always had been to an extent. It was strange though. He was almost as protective as Ari, if not just as much, and even more so in some ways. Boys being one of them. Now, he had somehow designated himself Hiccup and Ari's unofficial chaperone.

He was very good at it.

The pair quickly stood and brushed the snow off as the boy came near them. He was certainly an intimidating sight. Having grown the most, he was competing with Ari in height, though they argued it was more or less constantly. He had thinned out and bulked up. His voice was deeper. And, to top it all of, he had an impressive amount of facial hair growing from his sideburns down to his chin that he refused to shave.

They stood at attention a respectable distance from each other, though they were fighting the laughter that threatened to erupt from within them. It was funny to watch Snotlout try and be authoritative. Most of the time they would beat him out, saying something witty that he wouldn't understand or didn't know how to reply too. Others, they just let him have his moment.

He glared at both of them. "I can't leave you two anywhere, can I?" He looked around. "Where's Toothless? He's supposed to be watching you when I'm not around."

At the sound of his name, the Night Fury poked his head out from over a hill. "A lot of good you are!" Snotlout shouted at him. Toothless ducked back behind the snow.

Snotlout went to go after him, but Hiccup caught his arm. "Relax, 'Lout. I doubt Toothless would let us do anything too serious. Plus, it's pretty obvious that we didn't."

Snotlout was not convinced. "Yeah but, you're like, covered in snow." He shot Ari a look. ""How do you explain that, Hofferson?"

Ari raised an eyebrow, unintimidated. "I think you're just jealous."

Snotlout visibly clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. "No! That's not-" He grunted in frustration at not being able to form an intelligent comeback. He wasn't stupid enough to fight Ari either, though. He sighed, then stepped closer, settling with, "We'll settle this later, with a game of 'Scrape'."

Ari smirked. "You're on."

Despite himself, Snotlout smirked back. Then, after shouting at Toothless to keep an eye on them while they trained, bid them farewell and went to find Ruff and Tuff.

Hiccup turned to Ari. "Scrape? Really?"

Scrape was a game they had started playing in the past few weeks. It had all started when the lake in the cove had frozen over. Toothless was slipping around on it. The others following suit, easily sliding around on their boots. Hiccup was having more trouble with it due to her prosthetic. She couldn't slide, kept tripping, and her prosthetic would just scrape against the ice. This, however, gave her a brilliant idea.

A few days later, she had made 'Scrapes' for all the teens; thin metal blades that attached to their boots. Once they got the hang of it, they were all scraping around the ice, which was much faster and smoother than sliding. Then, one day, Ari was pushing around a rock with a curved tree branch. It didn't take long for the boys to come up with something competitive. Soon, they all had their own carved branches and an official playing rock.

Scrape was rather simple. There were two teams. Four players were on the field at all times, while the other two were guarding their team's goal; a marked area in which the rock could be shot. The point was to get the rock past the guard into the other team's goal. The team with the most points after a certain amount of time was declared the winner. It passed the hours when their dragon's were too cold to fly and had to warm themselves up.

Ari shrugged, that smirk still on his face. "It's a manly game where manly men prove their strength, agility, and skill and settle their differences."

Hiccup snorted. "Yeah. A manly game that was invented by a girl."

He stepped closer, forcing her to look up and him down. "As I recall, I was the one that came up with the rules for Scrape."

She raised an eyebrow, but a playful smile grew on her lips. "Please. You wouldn't even have your 'manly' game if it wasn't for my 'Scrapes'."

He shook his head, still smirking, then brought a hand up to brush back some of her bangs. "Yes, we are all very grateful for your scary smarts and bizarre inventions." His fingers reached the wool on her ears. "Speaking of which," he frowned. "Hiccup, what are these?"

She smiled brighter, obviously proud of her work. "Well, you know how I'm always complaining about my ears being cold?" He nodded. He knew this very well. "Well, I came up with a solution." She took the thing off and slid it on his head. "They keep your ears nice and warm."

He made a sound of approval. "Nice," he commended her. He took them off and carefully placed them back on her.

"Yeah," she went on. "Plus, they are tight enough to stay on during flight, unlike a hat or a hood. The only downside is that they kind of muffle the sound around you. Not very good for hunting."

"Hmm." He thought about it, bringing his fingers back up to the wool. "'Earmuffs'."

"Earmuffs," she echoed, trying it out on her tongue. She nodded. "Yeah."

They shared a smile. "Speaking of hunting," he said after a moment, "trip's a week away. We need to get you ready. What should we work on today?"

She let out a heavy breath. "I don't care. Whatever you want to do."

"You still worried?" he asked as he picked up their bows and quivers, easily reading her.

She nodded. She told Ari everything, including all of her fears concerning the hunting trip. She knew she had to do it, to prove she was a Viking and not just a weak little girl that broke tradition. To the people and to herself. But, she was still beyond nervous. Something could easily go wrong, as it did most years when teens went. And Toothless wouldn't be there for her for five whole days. This unnerved her more than anything. She was a flyer. In the air, on the back of Toothless, she was a master. On the ground, well... She had found that her and the earth didn't really agree with one another. Now, she was being thrown into the most dangerous test the Viking's of Berk had to offer.

"Hey," Ari spoke softly. He moved closer to her, hooking a finger under her chin and forcing her eyes up. "Everything will be fine. It's only for a couple days. We'll all be together, and I'll never leave your side. I won't let anything happen to you." He leaned forward and kissed her head. "I promise."

She wanted to believe him. She really did. But something, she wasn't sure what, told her that this wouldn't be some ordinary hunting trip. Something unknown was on the horizon, headed straight into their near future.

Worry settled deep into her stomach.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**Yup, there have been some changes on the isle of Berk. This is to be expected, though. As mentioned before, it's been six months, and Viking's grew up very fast. They're all right at that age where they're becoming 'adults' and are of marrying age. Plus, with a group like these teens, weird and hysterical things are bound to happen. :)**_

**_So, Hiccup totally just invented earmuffs and ice skating, and they all created Hockey. I had to throw that in here. I didn't want anyone to forget that Hiccup is like, a genius and invents stuff all the time. Plus, it totally seems like something Hiccup would come up with. :D_**

_**Okay! One more chapter and then we're off on the Hunting Trip! What scary, unknown things are on the horizon, you might ask? Oh... just you wait.**_

_**And now, a quote from 'Through the Eyes of Children', this one's from... Ruffnut!**_

_**"I swear to Odin, Snotlout, you drop that baby and I'll bury my knife in your good eye."**_

_**Okay, so maybe there are a few babies in the third part, but that's not really the focus of the story. Eh, you guy's will just have to wait and see. :)**_

**_Till Monday! Ta Ta!_**

**_~StoriesOfAnInsomniac_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey guys...**_

_**Yes, I realize it is Tuesday. Blerg. I'm sorry. :( I've been crazy busy. With just a few weeks left, school is crazy. That, and the track champs are in just a couple of days. I've been seriously swamped and sleep deprived. As you can now see, posting just once a week is proving difficult. Posting twice a week would have been impossible. **_

_**I'll still keep updating. I'm shooting for Mondays, but it may occasionally be Tuesday. Just a few more weeks guys... bear with me. **_

_**Alright, so, last chapter until the bug trip! Lots of Ari/Hiccup in here... Hope it was worth the wait!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

"All I'm saying is, I don't see how this is really necessary."

Hiccup clutched each side of their small boat, knuckles white and body tense. Part of her personal Hunting Trip training was getting her sea legs. Ari had her out in the open water on a small boat. It didn't even have a sail. It was a rowboat. A freaking rowboat. And there they were, out in the open, rough, winter waters, in a tiny little boat, with their dragons safe on land.

This was by far the worst thing he had ever made her do.

Ari set down the ors. She could tell he was fighting a smile and scowled at him in response. "It is necessary," he told her. "Part of the trip is sailing there and back. You have to get comfortable on a boat."

"I don't think I will _ever _be comfortable on a boat," she replied uneasily. He sighed and reached out for her, probably in a comforting gesture, though he didn't get the chance. "Stop," she told him, gripping the boat even harder. "You're rocking the boat."

He sighed again and dropped his hand. This was usually the moment in any training session when he would roll his eyes at her complaining and told her to do fifty sit ups or something. This time however, he surprised her. Carefully, he slid down from his seat onto the floor of the craft, ignoring her protests. Then, when he was comfortable, he reached up and motioned her down as well. Seeing what he was trying to do, she complied, though reluctantly, and carefully slid down in front of him with his help.

"Better?" he asked. It was, a little. A bit more stable on the floor of the boat. That, and Ari had his hands resting on her waist. But they were still out on the ocean, half a mile from the docks, and she could feel the waves hitting the side of the boat. She felt like she could fall over the side and under the water any second.

She gripped his forearms. "Not really."

He sighed, then surprised her again when he spoke. "I'm sorry, Hiccup. I know how much you hate the water. Trust me, I'd just as soon not have you around it either." He was referring to that day late in the summer. She had another drowning incident at the lake, one that Ari blamed himself for. He and Toothless had saved her, but she could tell that he was still haunted by it.

He went on, "But this is supposed to help. You might not ever like it, but we can at least get you used to the feel of it. It's not a dragon, but it's still safe. In fact," he thought about it a moment, "it's arguably safer than flying on a dragon. And remember, you won't be alone. Do you think that any of us would let you drown?"

"Yeah, I know..." She sighed again. "It's just so stupid."

"What's stupid?"

She gestured around. "This!" She dropped her hands, then flinched as it made the boat wobble slightly. "All of it. Water, this Hunting Trip, 'proving myself' to the people. It's just... stupid."

Ari was studying her closely. "I already told you that you don't have to go. Your father would agree to it."

"Yes I do. I have to, but I just... I can't. I can't even get in a boat without freaking out! How am I going to do anything else? I can't do it!" This wasn't about the Hunting trip anymore. It was, but it was more than that. What about after? After the rite of passage? After they were Vikings?

His eyes narrowed. "We've talked about this, Hiccup. Yes you can."

"No! I-" She deflated, letting out a huge breath and dropping her head in her hands. Her voice was much smaller when she spoke. "I don't think I can."

They stayed like that for a few moments, but soon she felt Ari's large, calloused fingers slid up her arms and gently grab her wrists, pulling her hands away from her face. "Talk to me, Hiccup. What's on your mind, hm?"

She gave in and looked up at him, not hiding the fear in her eyes. "What about after?"

"When we get back?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes. After the trip. Ruff and Legs will be married. Snotlout will have his ceremony. And you and I..." she gestured between them. "Eventually, maybe. I don't know." She wasn't really embarrassed saying this. They had talked about it some, and it was really and unspoken knowledge between them that they would eventually marry. Still, it was a bit uncomfortable with squashed and hidden emotions and worries. They didn't want to tread too much on the subject in the off and unbearable chance that politics would outweigh their feelings for one another.

She went on, letting out all her fears. "And then me, with the Chieftain training..." She ran her hands through her hair with a strangled groan, then met his eyes again. "We're not kids anymore, Ari. At least, we won't be. And I just... I don't think I can do it. I'm not ready to grow up, to be a leader, to protect the people. And wars." She shuddered. "I couldn't even kill a dragon, our mortal enemy for three hundred years, when it was hopeless and trapped in my net. How would I ever be able to fight in a war?"

He looked down at her for a moment, then his hands came up again. Her gaze fell as he gripped her shoulders. "Look at me, Hiccup." She did, and suddenly she had a flash of that day in the woods after he had been sick, over six months ago. He had said and did the same thing, grabbing her and forcing her to look at him. He was about to knock some sense into her, just as he had back then. This time he was much softer, but still firm.

"I'm only going to say this one more time, so listen," he told her. "You are _not _alone. Not anymore. Never again." That was true, in both parts. She had been alone, so alone. But then she met Toothless. Then she re-met Ari. Now she had all her friends and the Tribe behind her.

He went on, and she clung to his every word. "No one is asking you to be ready yet. No one is asking you to be Chief as soon as we get back. No one is asking you to fight a war or to kill a man. You're weighing yourself down with responsibility that isn't even yours yet. It will be yours eventually, but not yet. Until then, all of us are helping you prepare. And when the time does come, well," he slid his hand down to hers, entwining their fingers, "we'll have your back. We'll be there with you. _I'll _be there with you. I'm your second in command, remember?" He smiled softly, then reached his free hand up and pushed some of the hair out of her eyes, then kissed her head. "We're a team, you and I. And I promise, you will never, ever be alone."

She leaned into him, soaking up his words, his presence. Of course she wasn't alone. Not anymore. She had Toothless and Ari and everyone else. She was silly to let those things get to her. But thats just how she was sometimes, and that's one of the many things Ari was good for; setting her thinking straight. He was there for her, with her, both in body and mind.

"Thank you," she murmured into his chest. He responded by pressing his lips to her hair.

They stayed like that for a while, completely content and undisturbed. So much so, in fact, that Hiccup even forgot that they were on a boat. That is, until a should-have-been-expected disturbance made an appearance.

Freyja squawked as she flew low right above them, causing Hiccup to jump in surprise and stumble back, which caused the boat to rock violently. Hiccup squeezed her eyes shut, willing it all away. Ari's hand came out and grabbed her, reminding her that he was there. "You're alright," he assured her. "I've got you." Eventually, she managed to open her eyes again to see him looking up in the sky at the direction Freyja had gone. "Wonder what her problem was."

Hiccup hadn't a clue either until a thought popped into her head that made her freeze. "What time is it?" she asked.

Ari frowned, then looked up at the sun's status. "I don't know. Close to-" He stopped too. They shared a look of horror. She's sure one of them would have sworn, but they didn't get the chance.

Suddenly, a massive force came out at them from under the water, completely encircling their boat. Then, they were in complete darkness.

"Seriously?" Hiccup cried in frustration and shock. They were inside the mouth of a dragon. The dragon started to move in what Hiccup figured was flight.

"Rouge Thunderdrum?" Ari guessed, drawing his axe in preparation to force the mouth open. Without hurting him too much, of course.

"Worse," Hiccup groaned. She stood up and leaned out of the boat, then pounded on the side of the dragon's bloated mouth. "Boris! Let us out!" The Thunder Drum ignored her.

Boris, her father's dragon, had just snatched up the two of them in their boat. There could only be one explanation for this: they were late. Her father did not appreciate it when they were late. That and, well, they were out far from shore, alone... It was a bad combination. In short, they were in for an ear full.

Boris continued to ignore their begs to let them go. Finally, they made it to their destination and they landed. Boris opened his mouth. The pair, along with the boat, came tumbling out, Hiccup landing on top of Ari right at the feet of Stoick the Vast.

They looked up, Hiccup having to push aside her now wet hair. Her father wasn't the only one there. Snotlout stood by, looking nearly as intimidating as her father, as well as Gobber, looking rightly amused. Toothless was there as well, enjoying the situation far too much for Hiccup's liking. She had just shot him a death glare when her father cleared his throat.

He locked her eyes, striking fear into her very soul.

She laughed nervously and tried, failing, to put on an innocent smile. "Hi, Daddy."

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

In the end, they didn't get in much trouble.

Stoick ripped them a new one, Snotlout getting a word in every now and then. Ari took it like a pro, standing respectively as he was scolded for being late and _alone _that far away from shore. Hiccup, on the other hand, while accepting the tardiness, challenged the very thought that they could do anything on that tiny little boat at all, let alone with her being afraid of water. The argument died out pretty quickly after that.

Life continued. Hiccup did her lessons, Ari worked and trained, and a few days passed, leaving just two until the trip. Now, Hiccup was walking home with her father after supper in the Mead Hall, Toothless trailing close behind.

After several minutes of agonizing silence, Hiccup built up the courage to breach the subject that had been bothering her.

She took a breath. "Hey dad?"

"Hm?"

She took another breath. "Do you like Ari?"

He looked over at her, one eyebrow raised. "Of course I do. Why?"

She was a bit startled by his answer. She always assumed that he had some kind of beef with the boy she couldn't live without by the way he acted around him. It took her a minute to gather her thoughts, having only prepared for defending Ari in why her father should like him. It hadn't occurred to her that he might already.

She ran a nervous hand through her hair. "Well, you don't always act like it," she pointed out carefully.

He shrugged. "He is actively pursuing a physical relationship with my daughter. What do you expect me to do?"

She blushed slightly at her father's unfortunate phrasing. "Well..." she drug on. "Do you not want him to? I mean, do you not want me to, like... marry him?"

He frowned in thought. "I don't want you to marry anyone. But, if you must, he'll do."

Her head spun. What? Had he just... What? Gave them permission? Then... Why?

Toothless nudged her, bringing her back. "But then," she tried, having difficulty putting the words together. "Why be so hard on him? Why the Bride Price, the wait? You know he can't afford it." It had bothered her for some time. If he had accepted Ari, why make him work so hard or even pay a Bride Price at all? He wasn't from some other Tribe trying to form an alliance, and it's not like the Haddocks were short on funds.

Stoick sighed heavily. "Things are just slightly complicated, Hiccup. But I have other reasons."

She frowned. "Complicated how?"

"Well, for one, you have another suitor."

She stopped walking, causing Toothless to run into her and voice it in irritation. What? She... she had another suitor? It couldn't be Fishlegs or Snotlout. But she didn't believe it to be Tuffnut either. Most of the older boys in the Tribe were already married. So then... who?

Her father had stopped as well, and now looked back at her. "Who?" she managed.

He took off his helmet and examined it, busying himself to avoid her eyes. "You probably don't remember him. It's the Chief of the Bog Burgler's son, Martyr." Hardly. A fuzzy image came to mind of a blond boy with dark brown eyes, one from when they were very young. And didn't he... didn't he have a sister?

"Anyway," Stoick went on, "things have been tense ever since his mother Bertha took over. They're hoping a royal marriage will keep things peaceful between us."

It took her a few seconds to actually process what he had said. When she did, she was sure her heart stopped. No. No, no, no, no...

"No," she managed. Her eyes immediately pooled with tears. "No, no, daddy please!" She closed the gap between them and gripped his tunic, looking up at him desperately. "Please, don't make me marry him. I can't marry anyone else but-" She swallowed hard. "Please daddy, it has to be Ari. I'll do anything. I'll-"

He shushed her, stopping her plea, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Clam down, Hiccup. I haven't married ya off and I'm not goin' to."

She blinked. "What?" she asked carefully, praying to the Gods that she had heard him right.

He removed his hands. "You can marry Ari. I'm not giving you to Martyr."

Relief flushed through her, but just as soon confusion came after it. "Why?"

Stoick sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, for one, ever since we made peace with the dragons, politics have been... difficult. Many Tribes would want war with us or want to use the dragons as weapons if they found out. Remember Dagur the Deranged?" She did, very clearly. They had to hide all the dragons from that creep. He would have surely started war, and would have killed any dragon he came in contact with. That, and Hiccup had tried to hide from him herself. He had taken an interest in her and got way too close for comfort. Both Ari and her father nearly killed him, though each had a different reason.

"So for now," he went on, "we want to keep this a secret. Can't really do that if we're marrying you off. Also, I don't know this boy Martyr. Haven't seen him since he was a wee lad. But Ari, I know." He nodded to himself. "He is good for you."

She couldn't help the smile that grew on her face. Then, she remembered what he had said earlier. "What are your other reasons?" she asked. "Why make him work?"

He shrugged again. "Well, actually, he doesn't even need to. The situation is almost reversed. Marrying you, because you are the only heir and will inherit the Tribe, he would become part of the royal family. He would even take your name. Money is not needed." She opened her mouth to ask why again, but he stopped her as he continued. "But, because of this other suitor, we have to deny them for a very good reason. Therefore, we can tell them that you were bought and won by Ari with money and in a battle for your hand within the Tribe. It is done, as far as they will know. Can't argue with 'Berk Tradition'." Hiccup almost laughed. There was no such 'tradition' on Berk. Her father had fabricated the whole thing.

Another thought came to her as they continued walking. "Why not just lie about the whole thing? Why make him work at all?" Toothless bounded ahead of them, eager to get into the warmth of the house.

Her father smiled softly, surprising her. "Because it's you, Hiccup." He looked down at her. "I can see how much he cares about you, but I want him to fully realize and appreciate what he's getting. A man never really does until he's worked hard for it, or until he loses it." He opened his cloak and pulled her in it, keeping her close as they neared the house. "Just be patient, lass. We'll know when he's ready."

Hiccup smiled. In that moment, she felt more love and appreciation for her father than she ever had before. She moved closer to him, staying there the rest of the way to their house, where the impatient Night Fury sat waiting.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Hiccup sighed contently and leaned further over her picture, resting her head in her hand. Beside her, Toothless tended to the fire in the small hearth in her room, tossing some more wood on it. One of the advantages of being the Chief's daughter was that there was a fireplace in every room of their house, including her bedroom. This also meant that her friends were drawn to her house as the weather got colder. Her room had become a sort of hang out spot for them, and it was frequently filled with chilled visitors.

Speaking of which, she could hear one coming now. Strong wings flapped outside her window. Then, a figure landed on her window sill. Ari appeared as he slowly pushed the doors open, then hopped inside gracefully.

"Hey," he smiled at her.

"Hi," she greeted him. He smiled, then brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes. "Your eyes still bothering you?"

"Yeah," he said. He stopped rubbing and blinked several times. "The wind is killer. It's even worse in the cold."

Irritated eyes had become a common thing on Berk. The wind was strong up in the air. All the flyers of the island regularly had bloodshot or watery eyes. Hiccup had yet to come up with a solution.

"I'm taking off my clothes," Ari announced as he started taking off his layers. He didn't need them in the warmth of her room. "Try not to stare.

She hid her smile and shook her head, keeping her attention on her sketch. "By the way, did you know I have a front door?"

"Doors are boring," he told her. "Sneaking in through your window is more fun. Besides, your father came home early tonight. He's downstairs."

"Sneaking into the Chief's daughter's bedroom, huh? I thought I was the one who broke and disregarded all the rules."

He just chuckled softly. She looked up to smile at him. Just in time, too. He was just removing his final layer, leaving him in a single long sleeve tunic. But the tunic caught on the layer over it, exposing his abdomen and chest completely as he pulled it over his head. She found herself staring, gazing at his toned and chiseled muscles, but then quickly tore her eyes away as he pulled his shirt back down, blushing madly.

He didn't seem to notice, thank Odin, as his attention was now on her picture. He sat down facing her at her side, their thighs pressed together, and leaned over beside her face. "What are you drawing?"

She turned her book around so he could see it right side up. It was a picture of the two of them, Toothless ever present beside them. They sat together, leaning against the Night Fury's side. Ari was directly behind her, wrapping his whole body around hers in that way he always did. She had her hands in his, her back pressed against his chest. It could have been any given day, for they sat like that often. It was just them. Comfortable, content. Like they were now.

"I love it," he tells her. He takes the sketchbook to examine the picture more closely. "It's perfect."

She rolled her eyes. "You say that about every picture I draw."

"Well, I speak the truth. When have you ever known me to be overpraising?"

"You're also biased."

He waved her off, but didn't deny it. "Seriously though, you are very talented. I mean, we look great. It's very... us. Beautiful." They shared a smile, then he glanced back at Toothless. "And, you know, Toothless looks good too, I guess."

The dragon huffed, obviously offended. Ari just pat him affectionately, while Hiccup reached into the little bundle at her side and pulled out a brown square, tossing it in his direction. Toothless caught it in his mouth and hummed appreciatively.

"Uhm, what did you just give him?" Ari asked, eyeing the small bundle filled with unidentified brown lumps.

Hiccup's features lit up. "Here," she said, grabbing one and holding it up to his mouth. "Try it."

He put his hand up, block it. "You want me to eat a dragon treat?"

"It's good!"

"You want me to put a brown, lumpy thing in my mouth?" He shook his head vigorously. "Absolutely not. For all I know, that could be dragon shi-" He stopped when popped a piece in her mouth.

She chewed slowly and swallowed, then opened her mouth to show that it was gone. He gaped at her all the while, eyes narrowed. She grabbed another piece and held it up to him. "Your turn."

He opened his mouth to say something, probably to protest. She took this opportunity to shove the brown lump in his mouth. She clasped her fingers over his lips, forcing him to eat it. He glared at her as he slowly started to chew. The glared died quickly, however, replaced by wide eyes of surprise.

"Oh my Gods," he moaned, savoring every last bit of it. "What _is _it?"

She laughed at his reaction. "It's called 'chocolate'. My dad bought a whole barrel full when the last trader came through. Amazing, right?"

"Incredible," he agreed. He helped himself to another piece. He sighed and closed his eyes, chewing slowly.

"Careful," she told him. "It's addicting."

"You're right," he said. "We should ration it so it lasts the winter. Traders won't be back until spring."

She laughed again. "No, I mean it's dangerously addictive. My dad has already put on several pounds. I had to put another hole in his belt."

He raised an eyebrow. "You saying I'm going to get fat?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm saying, you may have rock hard abs now, but if you eat chocolate like my dad does, you'll-"

"Wait," he stopped her. "'Rock hard abs'?"

She blushed. "Uhm..."

"Have you-" He smiled wide, enjoying this far too much. "Have you been checking me out?"

She tried to scoff and dismiss this, but her flaming cheeks betrayed her. "Don't flatter yourself."

"No way." He laughed. "You totally have!"

"Whatever," she grumbled. "I won't be looking for long if you keep eating chocolate like that. You're going to get all fat." At this, she poked her charcoal to his stomach.

He immediately drew back. "Don't," he warned.

"What?" she asked playfully, eyes bright at having gained the upperhand. She poked him again.

He covered his middle protectively and drew further back. "Seriously, Hiccup. Don't."

She giggled, then poked him again. He tried to pull completely away from her, but she didn't let him, attacking him with her fingers.

Ari the Stouthearted was the pride of Berk. The perfect Viking. Strong, determined, stubborn, fit, good looking. Achieved at everything he did. Didn't seem to have any flaw. But he did have one, one weakness. Of all the ridiculous things, Hiccup had discovered it, the last thing anyone could have guessed.

Ari Hofferson was ticklish.

She pinned him to the ground, straddling his waist and tickling him all over, showing no mercy. He went back and forth between sounds of irritation and uncontrollable laughter. Toothless snickered behind them at the sight. This went on for several minutes until he finally managed to grab her hands and force them away. Then, quicker than she could react, he flipped them over.

He pinned her hands on either side of her. They were both breathing hard and grinning like fools. He leaned down, his face a breath from hers.

"That," he whispered, "was not fair."

"I never play fair," she informed him, also whispering.

He chuckled softly. "Nor, I think, will you ever." They shared another smile. His eyes flashed to her lips. Then, he closed the gap and pressed his lips to hers.

Hiccup closed her eyes and smiled into the kiss. It was sweet, simple. He pulled away after a moment, his lips and inch from hers.

"You taste like chocolate," he told her. Another soft laugh, and then they were kissing again. He deepened it slightly, turning his head to the side. Then, when he released her hands, Hiccup decided to be very bold.

She slid her hands down to his waist. Then, slowly, tentatively, she slid her fingers under his tunic. She felt his breath catch, but he didn't protest. So she kept going, fingers tracing the very muscles she had admired and he had teased her for.

She found that she wasn't afraid. Ever since that talk they had on the boat, but especially after her father had told her that she wouldn't have to marry Martyr, that she would marry Ari, she had felt happier and more comfortable around him than ever. Before, it had always been this question. What if they didn't end up together? What if she was married of for the good of the tribe? What were they doing, risking their hearts like this?

But not anymore. Now, she knew what the future had in store for them. He was hers. She was his. They were a team. And one day soon, they would be married.

She wasn't afraid or nervous to get close to him anymore. Ari had noticed this. He was curious, but he didn't have any strong objections to it. Of course, he didn't know about the talk she had with her father. Really, it would be better if Ari didn't know about Martyr. At least, not until they were formally engaged. That, and it would ruin what her father was trying to do. She didn't want her father to think that he had lost his work ethic at all. Plus, she kind of wanted to see this for herself. She wanted to see how his attachment to her would change when he had to work so hard to get her. Supposedly, according to her father, it would get deeper. She wasn't sure if this was selfish or not, to make him go through all that without telling him that he didn't actually have to. But her father would have her head if she told him, anyway.

She would probably tell him eventually. But for now, she kept it to herself, perfectly content with just laying there kissing him, her hands greedily exploring the broad expanse of his abdomen.

She had just reached his chest when a low growl sounded beside them. They stopped, then broke away in soft laughter and turned their heads to the Night Fury eyeing them.

"Right," Ari said. "Sorry, Toothless."

"Actually," Hiccup said as he helped her sit up, "I don't think he would care had Snotlout not gotten ahold of him."

In recent weeks, Hiccup had discovered that Snotlout had been training Toothless behind her back to be her and Ari's chaperone while he wasn't around. Before then, Toothless hadn't a care in the world what her and Ari did, having no understanding of 'marriage' and Viking eticit. But somehow, Hiccup still wasn't exactly sure how, Snotlout had turned her dragon against her. It annoyed her, but it was probably for the best. If they hadn't stopped, Ari's tunic would have been off by now.

Ari shook his head. "That's going to make some things down the road very difficult."

Hiccup laughed at the thought. Yes, it would be very awkward down the road when they finally got married. She would have to retrain him.

"Don't worry," she told Ari. "I'll work with him."

He nodded. "Good. Otherwise we might have to resort to giving him chocolate."

Hiccup rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Don't worry. There will be plenty of chocolate for you, too."

He shrugged. "Or I could just kiss you. I mean, that works too."

She raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Smooth, Mr. Hofferson."

He smirked. "Reward worthy?"

She sighed dramatically. "Oh, I guess." They smiled, then he caught her lips in another kiss.

Toothless growled again. "And, that's my cue," Ari said as they pulled away.

They stood up. Hiccup handed him his layers one at a time as he put them on. When he was done, they made their way to the window. He opened it and blew the whistle around his neck softly. Freyja squawked, then appeared on the ground beneath them.

Ari threw his leg over the side, sitting half in her room and half out, then turned to her. "I guess I'll see you in the morning. You nervous?"

Right. The Hunting Trip. They left in the morning. But... she wasn't nervous. Not like before, anyway. "Actually," she told him, taking his hand in hers, "I'm not. Not anymore."

He gave her a soft smile, obviously pleased that she felt safe with him. He leaned forward then, taking her cheek in his hand and kissing the other. "Goodnight, Hiccup."

He slipped away, down onto Freyja's saddle. Then, they were off. Toothless appeared at her side and she pet him affectionately as they looked out the window.

_Yeah, _she thought as she watched them fly away. _We'll be fine._

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

**_Gods, I love it when they flirt. :)_**

**_Woho! Who's ready for some hunting? Well, there won't be much time for it, but we're off nonetheless!_**

**_So, about Martyr. He's not in any of the books. I made him up. I don't even think Camicazi had any siblings. None that I can remember at the moment, anyway. He doesn't actually appear in this story, but he's a huge character in the next part. In fact, here's a quote from him now..._**

**_"Do you even know what it's like? To be hated? To be disowned, an outcast? My mother can hardly stand to look at me."_**

**_Right then. That's about it, folks! Hope you liked it! Let me know if you did, or even if you didn't. :)_**

**_Until next week!_**

**_~StoriesOfAnInsomniac_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey there lads and lassies...**_

_**So. This is awkward. **_

_**Before you ask, yes, I realize it has been a little over two months. I have gotten a few reviews and PMs reminding me of that fact. That being said, this is the point where one would usually give a long and boring explanation... Well, I wont put you guys through that. I'll just give you the short and sweet version. **_

_**I wont deny the fact that graduation was part of it. I was obviously very insanely busy. However, a few of you (those who PMed me asking me where the he** I was), are aware of my... *ahem* ..."incident". That, I will not go into great detail about. Lets just say that it is incredibly difficult to do practically anything at all when your body is broken like that. If you would like to know more, feel free to PM me. I don't mind sharing. It would just be a waste of chapter space for me to explain it all on here. :)**_

_**So anyway, here we are! I hope you guys haven't lost interest in the story with me being gone so long... I hope you can understand. Postings will now resume to Mondays for the time being, and will increase back to Mondays and Fridays at a later date. **_

_**You may want to go back and reread the last three chapters, just to jog your memory, but I'll help you right here too. This chapter enters into the morning of the teen's departure from the safe shores of Berk out to prove themselves Vikings. Hiccup was having a hard time with this, but Ari has helped her through it (being very generous with his words and kisses...). Stoick has also informed Hiccup that she will marry Ari, not Martyr, and now she feels closer to him than ever, though she hasn't shared this little fact with him yet. Hiccup is also struggling with how she thinks the Tribe views her as their future Chieftain, and Toothless is very rightly upset at her departure.**_

_**Well, that's about it! Hope you guys like it, though in my opinion this chapter is a little slow... Oh well. Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Hiccup woke early the next morning. Actually, it wasn't quite dawn yet, and this was the fifth time she had woken from her fitful slumber. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, not even bothering to try and go back to sleep. She doubted she would have much success, and she had to get up soon anyway. Everyone rose with the sun for the Hunting Trip.

Gods. It had come up so fast. Now, it was finally here. She guessed that this was the reason for her lack of sleep. Yes, she felt safe with Ari and her friends by her side. She knew that they would all protect each other. But still, she couldn't help but be a little nervous, and was kept awake by such. It was a big deal, their rite of passage. It was tradition. It was dangerous. And when they came back, they wouldn't be kids anymore. They would be full members of the Tribe.

But it would be okay. They would be okay. Ari had promised this, and Ari never broke his promises. As long as they all stayed together, they would come back alive and victorious. She might feel more secure, though, if her best friend were permitted to come with her.

Thinking this, she shifted to her side, coming face to face with her Night Fury. He laid on the bed with her, taking up almost every inch of it. She imagined that it wasn't very comfortable for him, but he slept with her anyway. Mostly it was just when she was sick or hurt or he was just feeling overly affectionate or possessive. In this case, he was upset that she was leaving. He was taking it pretty hard, which made sense. Since the beginning, there had only been a couple of times that they had been apart for more than a few hours. Now, they would be separated for nearly five days. Toothless was not happy about this.

He wasn't the only one. Hiccup's heart ached at the thought of being away from him so long. He was her dragon, and she his rider. They were best friends. But, it went deeper than that. While all of those on Berk with dragons shared a special bond with them, Hiccup and Toothless' was somehow stronger. It had something to do with how they were the first ones, not killing each other when everything in their world told them they should, and then learning about each other and building trust. It also had something to do with their missing limbs, his tail fin and her leg. She had shot him down, grounding him in the process. He had saved her life, condemning her to a prosthetic as the price. Now, they needed each other. Toothless couldn't fly without her, and with her help, he took her to places Vikings had never known before.

They were with each other everyday, flew with each other everyday. But, for the next five days, they wouldn't be. It was going to be a very long five days.

She checked the sky's status. It was still a good half hour before sunrise. They had time.

"Toothless," she whispered. His eyes opened lazily to meet hers. "Want to go for one last flight?"

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Ari rolled over once again, trying in vain to get comfortable.

He sighed heavily. It was no use. He couldn't calm himself enough. He'd woken up several times throughout the night, having difficulty falling back to sleep. Then, whenever he did, he would have nightmares. Actually, he had been having nightmares for weeks. It seemed that every other time he closed his eyes his mind would imagine the unbearable scenario of Hiccup's death. Rogue arrow. A Whispering Death. Training accident. Tripping on her prosthetic and falling from some great height. Drowning was a popular one. But whatever the cause, the image of Hiccup's cold, lifeless body haunted him.

It was unnerving. Why was he having these dreams? It's not like Hiccup was in any immediate danger. Plus, he would protect her on the Hunting Trip. All would be fine. Right? So why worry?

He had asked his mother about it, who consulted the elder Gothi. They had just told him it was nerves, that it would pass once they got back. Had he been a girl, Gothi would have declared his dreams to be a look into the future, the Gods giving him a preview in order to give him the chance to prevent it. But he wasn't. He was glad he wasn't. The thought of Hiccup actually almost dying tore at his heart so much that he had to force himself to stop thinking about it.

He tried to let his mind wander, to think about other things. This was difficult until a sound pulled him from his anxious trance.

Freyja stretched from her spot on the floor next to his bed. She lifted her head to look at him and cooed as he sat up. He smiled patting her affectionately. She hummed and pressed her snout to his middle.

"Ah, Freyja..." he dragged out her name as he scratched her thoroughly. She leaned into him, sighing as he did so.

He loved Freyja. She was an amazing, beautiful Nadder. Though vain, she was strong, determined, and loyal. She was a quick and willing learner, a master flyer, and a bit of a show off. More than once, when they had been flying over the ocean, she had turned sideways to look at her reflection in the water, dropping Ari in the process due to the quick, unfortunate angle that unlatched his harness. Yes, she was a bit self praising and over confident, but he loved her all the same. She was his dragon, and he her rider. They were a great pair, as friends and in the air.

Thinking this, he caught her attention as he spoke again. "Freyja?" She cocked her head to the side to look at him. "Want to go for one last flight?"

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Hiccup closed her eyes and breathed in deep, letting the cold air fill her lungs. Flying still hadn't lost it's effect. Being up in the air... it was amazing. And every once in awhile, she would close her eyes and let the wind blow on her face and through her hair while Toothless sailed smooth. It was peaceful, relaxing. But this was only allowed for a moment. She opened her eyes and clicked the stirrup.

Toothless responded accordingly, shifting up and then falling into a side spin. Toothless loved spinning, she had come to learn. He did it as often as he could. She didn't mind it. In fact, she loved it. But it couldn't even compare to her absolute favorite move.

She clicked the stirrup again and they started climbing, just as the sun's rays began to clear the horizon. They climbed, up and up and up into the clear winter sky. Then, with another click to the stirrup, they stopped. Toothless was still as she unhooked her harness and jumped off the saddle, diving backwards in an acrobatic move through the air and towards the ocean below.

She spun, then fell straight, keeping her arms and legs locked at her sides. She was like an arrow, speeding by, hardly making a sound. Again, she kept her eyes closed and let the wind blow past her face. This, freefalling down toward the earth, was by far the most thrilling thing ever. There she was, high in the sky, falling towards her death. But she wasn't. She wouldn't die. She was cheating, her Night Fury standing by to catch her. She was doing something no other Viking had done before her, playing at the feet of the Gods themselves, and now cheating death. And just for a second, as she sped through the air, completely weightless, she felt like she was flying all on her own.

She took another deep breath, then opened her eyes and spread out her arms and legs, slowing her fall. She would have to get back on Toothless soon. The ground was closing in. She shifted her head to the side to look at the dragon. He met her eyes, giving her a gummy smile. She laughed at the sight. She doubted that would ever get old either.

Smoothly, she positioned herself next to him and latched herself back into place, then shifted the stirrup and leveled out. They came very close to the water. So much so that they had to climb again to clear the cliffs of Berk. It was stupid. It was crazy. But then again, so was everything else in their life that had happened lately.

She pat her dragon's head prasingly. "Good job, sweetie." He hummed in response.

Faintly, she heard a whistle sound through the air. She knew that whistle. She searched around for it until her eyes came to rest on Ari and Freyja, flying towards her. They weren't the only ones. She saw Fishlegs and Meatlug pulling up the rear, as well as the twins with Doppelganger and Snotlout with Inferno. Apparently, no one could sleep that morning.

"Couldn't sleep?" Ari asked her as the pair leveled out beside them.

Hiccup shook her head. "Not a chance."

"Same here." He gestured around. "All of us."

The others greeted her as they caught up. "We've got about an hour until we have to be ready," called Ruffnut, a smile growing on her lips. "Anyone want to race?"

And so they did, the six of them and their dragons. They raced and tried to out trick one another for as long as they could, dreading the moment when they would have to land.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

The teens stood in a straight line in front of their Chief, listening as he gave them his last words of advice. Their dragon's stood behind them, just as orderly, carrying the teen's packs and weapons.

Hiccup's eyes left her father and trailed down the line to her right. Tuffnut stood directly beside her, Twit the Terror ever present on his shoulders, with his sister just after. They looked bored, and she doubted that they were listening. Snotlout stood beyond them, looking considerably more focused, which was surprising. She had guessed that he would be just as bored, having the attention span of a sparrow. Then again, Snotlout had changed a lot recently. He had definitely matured the most, though he had had some catching up to do. In stark contrast to how he would have looked earlier in the year, he stood tall and at attention, brows furled in concentration as he hung on their Chief's every word. And then there was Fishlegs at the end, the even larger boy than he was previously looking practically the same as he did half a year ago. The only real differences were his even bigger size and the practically full beard he had growing. Other than that, he looked just as anxious and awkward as always.

Then she glanced over at Ari. He looked, for lack of any better word, perfect. Strong, focused, straight-backed. She took in his size again, how he had grown several more inches. He didn't have any facial hair like the other boys, though she had a feeling that he shaved. She didn't think he would let it grow much until it was even and full. Otherwise it would bother him to no end. That wouldn't be too long, though.

He looked just as a full blown Viking ought to look. And Freyja behind him, his pack hanging off the horn on her snout, mirrored him perfectly. She stood tall and proud, as if she too were listening to the great Chief's words.

Thinking this, Hiccup quickly turned her head back to her father, realizing that she should probably be paying more attention.

"This is all the advice I can give you," the great man said. Hiccup silently cursed herself, knowing she had missed practically the whole speech.

"But," her father continued, "in the end, it will be your own wits and ability that will keep you alive. But you shouldn't just rely on yourself. No, that would be unwise." He looked down at each of them, catching each of the young viking's eyes in the process. "My last and most important piece of advice for you is this: look out for one another. Protect one another. And fight. Fight with everything you have, until there is nothing left. And when that happens, well... You're Vikings, and Vikings don't die lying down." He paused a moment, letting this sink in. He certainly had all of their attention now. "Keep each other alive. Put the others before yourself. Should you die, die a warrior's death." He cracked a smile. "We'll all see you in Valhalla."

He shook his head, releasing himself and the young Vikings in front of him from his trance. "But, I'm getting ahead of myself. This is just a hunting trip." Hiccup let out a sigh of relief, hearing more than one of her friends do the same beside her. Her father had a way of shaking people up inside, even if it was unintentional. "You will be fine, so long as you follow your instincts and protect one another. You will hunt, you will bring back food for your tribe, and you will return as true Vikings of Berk."

The crowd around them cheered, and the young almost-Vikings smiled. This was it. They were off, and now they had the spirits of the Tribe backing them.

"Now, off with you all!" Stoick shouted amidst the cheers. "And return by the fourth sunset!" At that, the teens turned to bid their dragons goodbye.

Hiccup grabbed her pack off of Toothless' back, working the large thing over her shoulders. "Thanks, sweetie," she told him. He hummed, though reluctantly, then pressed a somewhat slobbery boot in his mouth to her middle.

"Oh, thank you." She took it from him, the boot she had designed specifically for the trip. She sat on the ground and proceeded to undo the straps from her prosthetic. She slipped the thing off, immediately wincing as biting cold touched the tender skin. Quick as she could manage, she placed what was left of her left leg in the boot, into a snug holder outfitted with a spring mechanism for a near-natural walking pattern, and strapped in. She tucked in her leggings, a smile of satisfaction spread on her lips.

"New leg?" Came her father's voice. He put out a hand to help her up. She took it, and righted herself in front of him.

"Sort of," she explained. "It has almost the same design, only with a boot over it so that i can have the traction. And there's a weight in the toe, for balance."

He continued to stare at it, observing her work. "I looks real."

Hiccup looked down as well. It did look like a real leg. If someone didn't know any better, they wouldn't know the difference.

Hiccup merely shrugged. "I suppose so. The idea behind it was just so that I wouldn't be as clumsy. But," she went on, lifting her leg and moving it around, "It's pretty heavy. We'll see how this trip goes. And Toothless' stirrup can easily be adjusted to fit the boot. I'll just have to get used to the weight."

The large man shrugged. "The longer you leave it on, the easier it will be to manage. You will get stronger."

Hiccup let out a weak laugh. "At least it makes me _look_ stronger." There, her other reason for the leg. It looked real. It distracted people away from the fact that she was crippled. It made people forget her weakness. It made her look stronger. That was the idea, anyway.

"Oh, lass," she heard her father sigh, and looked up to meet his eyes. "No one doubts your strength. Even if we did, even if anyone did, you've already proved that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."

But it _did _matter. At least, it did in this context. She was the official heir of the tribe and future Chieftain. How could she do that if her people constantly looked at her and saw weakness? No. She needed to be more than that. She needed to be more than the scrawny girl that broke all the rules. She needed to be strong. Because it _did _matter what her tribe thought of her. How could he, the current Chief, not understand that?

She kept her mouth shut though, as he continued. "You've proved yourself stronger than any of us. The only person you haven't proved it to yet is yourself." He placed a hand on her head, patting her copper hair. "Perhaps, by the time you get back, you will see what the rest of us see."

She doubted anyone else could see what he saw, whatever that was, besides Ari. And they were both biased. But again, she didn't voice her uncertainty, instead settling on a nod.

Her father gave her another long glance. "I guess I'll keep this safe for you, then," he said, taking the metal prosthetic from her.

She shrugged as she handed it to him. "Sure." She had actually had her mind set on tossing the thing. But she could do that when she got back.

Stoick pat her hair again. "You'll be alright, lass. Just remember all you've been taught, and we'll see you soon."

She nodded, then stepped forward and hugged

him. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Hiccup," she heard him murmur into her hair, then squeezed her tighter. It was right then that she realized it. Right then, as he was hugging her, she she realized how hard and frightening it was for him too. And it was that, despite everything else, that made her want to cry.

But she didn't. That would be weak. Instead, she hugged him for a few seconds more, then pulled away without another word. Then she turned to Toothless.

The dragon hummed as he looked down at her from his upright sitting position. There was really nothing to say. They had said everything that needed to be said during their flight that morning. So, she simply stepped up to the Night Fury and threw her arms around his neck.

The dragon purred and rested his head on her shoulder, while his paw came up and wrapped around her tiny frame.

"I'll miss you, Toothless," she said into his midnight scales, trying with all her might to hold back the tears. She pulled back and met his eyes with a wary smile. "But I'll be back soon, okay?"

In response to this, he licked her, then smiled at her with that toothless, gummy smile, which made her laugh. This, she guessed, was the point, as Toothless would always try to cheer her up when she was upset. It worked. He cooed happily.

Ari appeared at her side. "Ready?"

She sighed. "As I'll ever be." She turned back to her dragon and stood on her toes, planting a kiss on his head. "I'll see you soon, sweetie."

The rest of the teens were finishing up their own goodbyes. When they were done, they all stood together and faced their small ship, the one that would take them on their journey. But no one moved. In fact, they all looked to Hiccup. She was the leader. She was their further Chieftain. She was the one who changed their world. She was the one that had led them into battle before, and now, she would lead them on the trip. They looked to her, and this was one of the many moments, Hiccup realized, that she would have to step up and prove herself. So she did.

Ari was eying her as well, waiting for the okay. Finally, she hitched her pack higher up on her shoulders, took a breath, and turned to him with a nod.

With that, as she moved forward, he fell into step right behind her to her side, as any second in command would, and together they walked up the plank, the others in tow.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**There you have it! Hope you liked it, and that the continuation of this story was worth my absence. Once again, if you have any question/comments/concerns, I have no problem answering. Just didn't want to bore all the people who don't care to know by putting a long explanation up here. :)**_

_**Also, as you might have noticed, the title is slightly different. Being gone so long has given me time to ponder such things as character growth and arches. Therefore... SUBTITLES. :D These, I feel, will just add to the epicness that is this trilogy, and will add emphasis to how the characters change over the years and their own personal arches. And so, The Mirrors of Eyes is now "The Mirrors of Eyes: The Outcasts". In the Eye of a Pirate is now "In the Eye of a Pirate: The Vikings". And finally, Through the Eyes of Children is now "Through the Eyes of Children: The Warriors"**_

_**And now, here is a quote from such. From the upcoming story, 'Through the Eyes of Children: The Warriors', here's a quote from... Camacazi! **_

_**"I don't want to be the future Chieftain of a Tribe that's responsible for the senseless murder of a great man! I don't want to have anything to do with it! With this Tribe, with this family, and especially not you!"**_

_**Snap. Who could she be talking about, I wonder? :S Guess you'll just have to wait and find out! **_

_**Write on, my friends.**_

_**~StoriesOfAnInsomniac**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**And chapter 5... :)**_

_**Happy Monday, guys. I don't have much to say so...**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

Stoick looked on as the ship drew further and further away from the safety of the Village.

He sighed heavily. Sending the young people out was always hard. The hunting trip was dangerous. Whereas in dragon training where they were relatively safe with the trainers nearby, they were completely on their own on the hunting trip. Granted, this year they had minimal worries about dragons. But there were other dangers. Storms. Freezing temperatures. Hunting accidents. Outcasts. Hel, even pirates were a possibility.

But this year was different. This year, Hiccup was going.

He would be lying if he said that he had wanted her to go. He hadn't. Not at all. Some would say it was because she had a disadvantage. She was injured, missing a leg. She was small. She wasn't naturally talented when it came to fighting. She was clumsy. Sure, things things played a small part, worried him, but not any more than they always did. He knew the others would take care of her, Ari would take care of her. And Hiccup would take care of them should they need it.

Yes, he was worried about her physical abilities. But it was more than that. It was just that it was Hiccup. His Hiccup. His daughter. His daughter was on that ship headed off on the Rite of Passage. She was growing up, and it was breaking his heart.

When she got back, if she came back, she wouldn't be a child anymore. She would be a Viking woman. And in just a few months time, she would be married. Little Hiccup wasn't so little anymore.

But that wasn't until after they came back. Right then, that's what he would focus on. They would come back. They had to. She had to.

Toothless, his daughter's dragon, hummed beside him. He too was looking off into the distance, watching the ship sail away. Stoick pat the Night Fury's head.

"She'll be alright," he told the dragon, though he was mostly trying to convince himself. He sighed once more as the ship finally escaped their view. "She'll be fine."

_**~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

"I don't know, guys," Tuffnut addressed the group as steered the ship. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. "I just really like the open sea, you know? I feel like there's a whole world out there for me to explore, a whole world that I can create for myself, with me as Captain."

Hiccup groaned and leaned against the main mast. They were only a few hours into their voyage, with many more to go. So far she had done pretty good, even for a moment successfully forgetting that she was on a boat out in the ocean at all. But now, she was fully aware of the fact. Tuffnut was not helping things.

He took another deep breath of the salty sea air, eyes closed, and nodded. "Yup. I wanna be a Pirate."

Ari rolled his eyes as he relieved the day dreaming blonde from his post. Tuff took this opportunity to run full speed to the front of the deck to the bow, holding fast to it and leaning over the edge, crying out, "I'm King of the world!"

"Oh, shut up," Ruff also rolled her eyes at him, kneeling down to Hiccup whom had slid down the mast into a sitting position. She rummaged through her bag. "You're making Hiccup sick."

"Not to mention the rest of us," Ari added.

"Don't crush my dreams," Tuff shouted back, looking hardly bothered.

Ruffnut pulled out a handful of odd looking leaves to hand to Hiccup. "Here," she said, "it will help with the seasickness."

Hiccup shook her head, leaning it back against the mast. "It's not seasickness." She laughed weakly. "I've been on far wilder rides on the back of Toothless."

Fishlegs pulled on a rope, tightening the sail. "But why would you want to be a Pirate?" he asked, addressing Tuffnut.

"Would wouldn't I?" Tuff went on, unfazed by the other's annoyance. "At sail with your best mates, tattooed drunks. The smell of the salt. The wind in my hair..."

"Or what's left of it," called Snotlout from the other rope.

"Hey!" Tuffnut cried in sudden rage, turning to him, selfconsciously raising his fingers to the stubby little ponytail on the back of his head. "I swear to Odin, if you ever come near my hair again, you even mention it, the next time you wake up you'll be completely hairless!"

"You want to shave my body?" He shrugged smugly. "I didn't know you went that way. No wonder you want to sail the seas with 'tattooed drunks'."

With an furious cry, Tuffnut charged the brutish looking boy. Snotlout ran, trying to avoid him in sudden fear.

"How can you guys run on this thing?" Hiccup groaned as they ran past her and Ruff.

Tuffnut huffed beside her, having stopped to catch his breath. "What?" he asked. "Is our great Dragon Conqueror afraid of water or somthing?"

This, she knew, wasn't meant to be offensive. But still, Hiccup winced. She sighed. "I... I don't know how to swim," she admitted to them. Ari was the only other who knew this already.

"Oh," Ruffnut said, sitting back next to her, shoving the leaves back into her sack. "Well, if that's all it is, we could teach you. Might want to wait until it's warmer, though.

"I'm surprised you didn't teach her this summer, pretty boy," Tuff called to Ari. In truth, he had tried. But after the 'incident', Hiccup was reluctant and he didn't want to push it. He didn't voice this however, for which Hiccup was thankful.

"Compared to dragon riding," came Fishlegs, "it's statistically much safer, and arguably a lot easier to learn."

"Might be kind of hard though." Snotlout motioned to her leg. "You know, with that weighing you down." Again, she knew that comment wasn't meant to harm, but it still stung.

Ruffnut's comment seemed to top it all off. "Well," she shrugged, standing, "we all have our weaknesses."

"Thanks guys," the small girl mumbled, though no one heard her as they all went about their business.

Ari, still steering, motioned for Snotlout to take his place. He did, and Ari made his way over to Hiccup slowly, grabbing some rope along the way.

She looked up at him as he knelt down next to her. "What she neglected to add," he told her in a hushed voice, "was that, just because you can't swim, doesn't mean that we think any less of you."

"Does that include the leg?" she asked. He went to answer, but she stopped him. "Never mind," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Lets talk about something else."

He studied her a moment, but eventually nodded, letting the subject drop for the time being. He held out the thin, long rope, then looped one end around her belt. "Vikings, and all sailors really, will wear 'Lifelines' during great storms," he explained. He took the other end and wrapped it around the mast, fastening it as he continued. "The point of them is that, even if you went overboard, there was still hope. There was a line, keeping you attached to the heart of the ship. So even if you were thrown into the waters, even if it seemed you should be dead or lost forever, you still had a chance, and could 'come back to life'."

"Do they wear them in calm waters as well?" she asked, fingering the rope.

Ari shrugged, sitting back. "Depends on the sailor. Some are more cautious than most. Others, the wisest ones, would wear them even when it seemed as though there was nothing to fear, because they could see a storm coming from far off, before anyone else even noticed the change in the winds."

She sighed again and leaned back, pressing her shoulder to his. "It's just... I have a bad feeling," she admitted in a whisper. She shook her head. "Ever since we left this morning. And I can't... I can't shake it." It wasn't so much a feeling of impending doom, what she was experiencing. No, it was more nagging than anything. Constantly bothering her, poking her at the back of her mind. It was unsettling, bothersome that she couldn't get it out of her head.

"Well," Ari said, "I can't argue with you on that. You will feel what you will. But," he pulled out his other rope, "your intuition and sight has always been better than mine." He fastened himself to the mast. "So, I'll wear one of these too."

She laughed softly and leaned her head against his shoulder. Ari always knew how to make her feel better. It was what he was good for. He kept her head straight, kept her focused, and kept her happy, just as a second in command, and significant other, should.

"My great, great grandfather was a pirate, you know," she told him after a moment.

He nodded. "I do. Grimbeard, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Grimbeard the Ghastly. The world's greatest Pirate."

"I never heard how he came to be the Chief of Berk."

Hiccup smiled. Though bloody and a bit sad, she never tired of recalling stories of her grandfather. She had never told them before. "Well, he never really was. He was the second son, so he went off to find his fortune elsewhere. He didn't want to stay on Berk his whole life. So one day, he stowed away on a traders boat. A few years later, he was one of the most feared men in the ocean."

"Huh," Ari sounded, fully engrossed in the story. "Wasn't he super rich?"

"The richest," Hiccup told him. "He had greater wealth than any of the islands combined. Earned it all through plunder and murder." She shrugged. "But that was the life of a Pirate."

"So what happened to it all? It's not on Berk, obviously."

"No," she agreed. Though Berk wasn't poor, they certainly weren't rich. "He hid all of his treasures away somewhere. On an abandoned Island, probably. It's said that no one, not even his crew, would dare try and get to it. The place is rigged with booby traps, and only Grimbeard knew the secrets of it all. Some say he hid clues for his descendants, in his will or etched into his sword 'Stormblade', in the songs passed down the family. But the songs are just lullabies. His sword was lost after he died. And no one was able to make sense of his will, though that was lost, too."

"Why couldn't anyone make sense of it?" Ari asked curiously.

"He left everything to his dead son," she explained. "And he'd written over everything in large script, a message or something." She shook her head. "I can't remember what it said."

"What happened to his son? How did he die?"

"That's the sad part," she told him. "Grimbeard killed him himself."

Ari let out a surprised breath. "Why did he do that?"

"Well, his oldest son, Thugheart, lied to Grimbeard, telling him that his brother was a traitor, that he was planning to kill his father and steal his title or something. So Grimbeard ran him through with Stormblade. It was only after, when the boy was lying there dying, that the truth was revealed. So he died in Grimbeard's arms, by his sword. After that, Grimbeard would have killed Thugheart, but he couldn't bear to kill another one of his son's. So he banished him to Outcast Island. No one knows what happened to him after that."

Ari was silent for a moment, thinking. "What was his name?"

Hiccup furled her brows. "Thugheart?"

"No, the boy that died," he clarified.

"Oh." She smiled then, realizing that this was the best part of the story. "His name was Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock."

Ari turned his eyes to her, smiling also. "Really?"

She nodded, beaming. "Really."

"Wow," he breathed, leaning his head back again. "So what happened? What did Grimbeard do? How did his son become Chief?"

She smiled at his eagerness. "Well, when Grimbeard's brother, the current Chief of Berk, died, he was called back to the Island. He became Chief because his brother died without an heir, but died soon after, having been driven to madness by the death of his son by his hand. One morning, they just found him dead, a suicide, the strange will in his hands. After that, his second son, Chucklehead, became Chief. That's my great grandfather."

"Have any tried to search for the treasure?"

"Many. No one has succeeded. If anyone were to find it, it would be a Haddock, though few of us have tried. There aren't enough clues, or any really, to make sense of."

Ari was silent for another moment, but then he smiled. "I bet Hiccup would have found it."

At this, Hiccup too smiled. "Yeah," she agreed. "I bet he would have."

"Without a doubt. He sounds like he was a smart guy." He threw an arm around her. "You were well named."

She laughed softly, leaning into him. "Thanks."

"And," he added, "I bet that you are going to be a master sailor in no time. It's in your blood."

She laughed again, this time sarcastically. "Yeah, right. In fact, if I remember correctly, I don't think Grimbeard could swim either."

"Yeah, right," he replied. "A Pirate who can't swim. That'll be the day. Anyway," he sighed, "how are you feeling?"

She blinked. Actually, she felt perfectly fine. Telling the story, she had completely forgotten that she was on a ship. Even remembering it now, she didn't feel too bad, though she was clutching the lifeline in her fist. Ari had managed to distract her completely.

"Actually," she told him, "A lot better." She smiled up at him greatfully. "Thank you."

He smiled down at her in reply. "And don't worry too much," he nudged her. "About that feeling, this trip. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"I know, I know," she sighed. "We'll be fine."

Suddenly, a cry from the other end of the deck caught their attention. "I swear to Odin, when I'm done with you, you're going to wish Thor had beaten you with his hammer instead!" They both looked up as Tuffnut and Snotlout ran around the deck again.

"Well, that's up for debate," was Ari's response.

Hiccup laughed, but soon winced as the boat rocked slightly at all their fast movements. "Perhaps we will be once we land. Are we almost there?"

He chuckled lightly. "Soon enough," he told her, then planted a kiss on her head.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~**_

True to Ari's word, they were closer to their destination than Hiccup thought.

A few hours later, they were on shore and setting up camp. A few more hours, and they were all sitting around a large fire, relaxing before they turned in.

They were all silent and content. Snotlout laid back against a log, chewing on a small bone from dinner. Ruff and Tuff were playing some sort of game drawn in the dirt. Fishlegs was engrossed in some book he had taken from the Tribe library. They were all peaceful, like it were any other night and they weren't on their own many miles from home.

Hiccup leaned against the same log as Snotlout. Ari sat directly in front of her to her side, leaning against a tree trunk. She had her prosthetic resting on top of his legs, and she watched him silently as he worked.

For the many months that she had been so close to Ari, she had learned much about him. For one, he had a few hobbies that she never would have guessed. He loved music, especially wind instruments. One of his pastimes, mostly when things were calm or lazy or when they sat around a fire, was making such instruments. He had made the whistle he used to call Freyja. Now, he was working on a small flute, carving it out of a carefully chosen piece of wood.

Ari drug his blade along the surface one final time. Then, deciding he was done, held it out to examine. She saw a ghost of a smile flash on his face. Then he started playing.

Soft, simple lullabies filled the air around them. They all knew those songs. They were the ones that were played at births and funerals, the ones that their mother's sang to them. It was comforting to hear, being that far away from home and childhood. And it almost, almost made Hiccup feel like they weren't there at all, like they were all back in the summer time around their regular evening campfire. Ari played them songs then too. So they all sat and listened, for how long no one really knew, until Ari had finished all the songs he could think of.

He leaned his head back on the tree he leaned against, Hiccup looking at him all the while. He turned to her, meeting her eyes. She smiled softly, then leaned forward. She placed a hand on his cheek and pressed her lips against his own, kissing him softly.

"Uhg," Tuffnut groaned as they separated. "Way to ruin the moment."

Hiccup rolled her eyes. Ruff spoke, backing her up. "I thought it was a beautiful end. In fact," she turned to Fishlegs sitting next to her, a sly smile on her face, "pucker up, big boy." With that, she grabbed his collar forcefully and laid one on him.

Tuff groaned again, this time Snotlout joining him. "Can we do something else?" the dark haired young man asked. "Like, a game or something?"

"Ooh, yeah!" Ruffnut agreed. "Lets play Lies and Liplock!"

They all groaned at that. "Come on," came Tuff, "we haven't played that game for years. It's stupid."

"Actually," said Hiccup, "I've never played that game."

"Neither have I," said Ari. "I thought it was stupid back then."

"Well, that settles it," said the blonde girl. "We're playing. Right, Legs?" Fishlegs nodded, having finally recovered from Ruffnut's kiss.

Most groaned again, but all complied. The game was simple. The one picked would have to tell two truths and a lie based on the questions the picker would asked. If the one who picked them could guess the lie, the one picked would have to kiss a member in the circle. Children played this game, and it was fun because at that age, kissing was gross. Now, however, things were much different, that which some in the group had not thought of going into the game.

"I'll go first," Tuffnut decided. He turned to Ari. "Who was the first person you ever kissed, when did this happen, and..." he thought about it a moment, then smiled, well, mischievously. "What really happened that night you were sick."

They all made sounds of approval, save Ari and Hiccup. It was the forever question. The one that, no matter how many times the pair answered it truthfully, no one would believe them. What really happened when Hiccup tended to Ari through the night when he was poisoned? In truth, they just slept, her keeping him warm to fight the infection. The others had different scenarios in mind.

Ari smiled, and was actually quick to answer. "The first person I kissed was Hiccup. It happened in the winter we were both thirteen. And," he flashed Hiccup a smile, "Hiccup and I slept together that night."

Jaws dropped and sounds of exclamation filled the air.

"Uhm, not all three of those were supposed to be lies," Tuffnut scoffed.

"Wait," Fishlegs frowned. "You guys kissed back before everything? Before you really even talked to each other?"

"I knew it!" shouted Snotlout. "I knew you guys slept with each other that night!"

"Uhm, earth to 'Lout," came Ruffnut. "Obviously the last one is a lie. I think we would know by know if that had really happened." She gestured to Hiccup's middle. "So wait," she went on, "you guys really kissed three years ago?"

Hiccup blushed, remembering that night under the mistletoe. The pair hardly had time to answer before Tuffnut interrupted. "Well, that makes things easy." He pointed at Ari. "The last one. You guys didn't do it. Now kiss someone."

Ari turned to Hiccup, smiling smugly in victory. It was then, as he pressed his lips to hers, that she realized he had made it easy on purpose. Not that she minded. She smiled into the kiss at his cleverness.

"Uhg," Tuff exclaimed in mock disgust. "Theres something we didn't think about. This game is flawed."

"Only because we're older," Snotlout pointed out. "It wouldn't be a problem if we had girls. In fact, I would really like that game."

"Tuffnut is available, I hear," came Ruffnut. Her brother shot her a look of death.

"Gross," Snotlout replied. "Why would you even suggest that? I don't know about stubby over here, but I don't go that way."

"You sure about that 'Lout?" Hiccup asked him, grinning at having found a way to gain the upper hand. He had teased her so much growing up, it was nice to finally have some payback. "I always thought you had sort of a man-crush on Ari." She laughed, then mimicked his voice. "'Don't worry about it, man! That was so Ari!'. 'You should come by sometime and work out!'."

The others were laughing now too. Snotlout had turned a shade of red that seemed to be a ix of embarrassment and anger. He opened his mouth to reply, defend himself, but he didn't get the chance.

Snap.

Hiccup's head spun towards the forest behind them. "What was that?" she asked quickly, muscles tense.

"What was what?" someone asked.

"There's something out there," she told them.

They were all silent for a moment, listening, until suddenly a green flash appeared before them, pouncing on Tuffnut's chest.

"Twit!" the boy exclaimed. "I told you to stay in the pack!"

"Twit?" Hiccup asked. Sure enough, there he was. Twit the Terror, licking Tuff's face.

"You brought a dragon with you?" Snotlout accused him, suddenly angry for a whole different reason. "You know we weren't supposed to do that!"

"I know, I know, but..." Tuff tried to explain as Twit crawled up and made himself comfortable on the young man's shoulders. "He wouldn't get out of my pack this morning. Besides, it's not like he can help us at all."

Hiccup was hardly bothered by the Twit's presence. "But that noise..." she said, cutting of whatever Snotlout was about to rant. She struggled into a standing position. She turned around to face behind her, staring out into the dark night. "It came from this direction."

Ruffnut shrugged. "Could be anything. A bird, a deer, another Terror. We don't have to worry about it."

"Whatever," Snotlout grumbled, standing. "I'm going to bed. And if we get in trouble when we get back, Tuffnut, you'll wake up with more than just your hair cut off."

Tuffnut made some sort of reply, but Hiccup wasn't listening, and then they all started heading off to bed. Hiccup remained where she was until Ari stood up by her side.

"It's probably nothing," he told her. His hand came up and brushed her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Go to sleep. I'll take first watch."

Eventually, she sighed and nodded. She turned to him with a smile, though it was tight. "You're right. I'll just... go to bed."

He nodded, then leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight, Hiccup. Sleep well."

She watched him for a moment as he picked a spot where he would sit for the next few hours. Then she turned back to the forest where the noise had come from, staring out for a few minutes longer. She sighed, turning away after a few minutes and going in to her and Ruffnut's tent.

She doubted she would sleep very well at all.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**There you have it! The back story to Hiccup's kin is revealed. Almost every part of that Grimbeard story is true, by the way. It's all in the books. :) Hope you guys liked it!**_

_**And now, a quote from the upcoming story, 'Through the Eyes of Children; The Warriors'. This one comes from... Hiccup!**_

_**"He looks like **_**Thor****_!"_**

**_Ha. Haha. Hahahahaha. I crack myself up. XD Just wait until you see who shes talking about. :)_**

**_Until next week!_**

**_~StoriesOfAnInsomniac_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Blerg. Sorry guys. A couple of days late, I know. Work has been crazy. So the life of a High School graduate... It's not as easy as one might have thought... Can anyone relate?**_

_**By the way, I think I found the perfect song for this story. Do any of you guys listen to Zedd? If not, but even if you do, you should check out his song 'Lost at Sea'. It's pretty epic. It might not make so much sense now, but in a few chapters it will. :)**_

_**Anyway, here is the new chapter! I think you guys will like it. A lover's spat, a bit of one-on-one with Tuffnut, and then the introduction of the first new character. Let me know what you guys think! **_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

For the first time in what Hiccup thought was her life, her steps were almost completely silent.

She walked slowly through the woods, bow drawn, arrow ready. Twit the Terror scrambled up to her shoulders and she hardly flinched. All she registered was the space right in front of her where her arrow would shoot.

The boot was working remarkably well. Though she was having trouble getting used to the weight, having the traction on both feet was helping tremendously. Now, she could step through the winter forest in near confidence that she wouldn't fall. Now, she could focus on something other than her feet, or rather, 'foot'. The task at hand? Hunting.

At first, one might have thought it impossible for Hiccup to perform such a task. But it wasn't just because she was clumsy or small or weak. It was that she was Hiccup. Hiccup, who was incapable of killing a helpless dragon which she had shot down. Hiccup, who befriended their mortal enemy. Hiccup, whom all thought wouldn't harm a fly.

What people seemed to forget was that Hiccup ate just as the rest of them. She ate what the men caught in their nets or shot and brought home. In what she had seen, the animals they ate didn't have the intelligence, the souls that the dragons had. With the dragons, it had been senseless killing, as discovered by Hiccup. They hadn't needed to. But the other animals, the birds, fish, and deer, they provided food. They kept them alive. Just as birds ate seeds, as fish ate whatever it was that was down in the waters, and as the deer ate the grass, Vikings, and Dragons, ate them. In Hiccup's mind, she figured this was fair, as the bodies of the Vikings and Dragons returned to the ground or sea, which helped the plants grow and kept the waters fertil. Therefore, against what most people believed, Hiccup was a ready and willing hunter.

A low clicking sound came from deep within Twit's throat. Her senses automatically heightened. The tiny dragon knew that something was close. He could feel it. Hiccup could too.

She quickly, almost silently, took several paces forward. She ducked behind a tree and peered beyond it. Yes. There. Behind that boulder a ways ahead. There was her target.

She quickly traded the arrow for a small rock. Stringing it back, she shot the rock right at the boulder. She smiled in victory as the buck trotted forward a few paces at the sound. Slowly, she strung her arrow and pulled back, aiming straight for the heart of the animal. Twit clicked again in anticipation. Hiccup, too, sucked in a breath at the feeling, and gave the string one last, calculated tug...

"Hiccup."

She jumped as the sound of a voice in the dead silence. The buck, too, heard the sound, and was quick to trot away. Hiccup cursed and quickly moved to shoot at the creature, but she missed by several feet.

She spun around, white hot in anger, to face the tall form of Ari.

For just a moment, neither said anything, giving time for Ari to process what he had just done, and Twit the time to stick his tongue out at the boy. Ari went to say something, probably apologize. Hiccup didn't give him the chance.

"Damn It, Ari!" she started. He shut his mouth, knowing better than to interject. "What the Hel is wrong with you? I almost had him!" She let out a cry of frustration and, in the heat of her anger, pushed him roughly, though it hardly moved him at all, then started stomping away.

"Seriously," she went on, knowing full well that he was following, "what in Odin's great name would _ever _make it okay to sneak up on someone in the middle of a hunt? And this is you!" She pointed at him. "You taught me this! Every bit of it! From tracking the animal, all the way up to the kill!"

"Hiccup, I-" he tried.

"I mean, have you forgotten your own training or something? Honestly!"

"I was just-"

She stopped and turned to face him. "You should have known better!" She turned to stalk away again, but he grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

"Damn it, Hiccup!" he exclaimed as she had. He looked away for a moment, biting his lip to control his words. "I'm not perfect! I'm sorry!"

She huffed in frustration, her anger dwindling slightly. "What were you doing out here, anyway?" she asked him a bit more calmly.

He sighed. "I was just checking on you," he told her. This, unfortunately, was the wrong thing to say.

Her eyes flared again and her cheeks flushed. Even Twit growled quietly, sensing her agitation. When she spoke, she was almost shaking. "What am I? A child?"

His brows furled. "What? No, I-"

She cut him off. "You're not my 'escort' anymore! I don't need anyone to walk me home or hold my hand, and I certainly don't need someone checking up on me all the time! I'm not 'Hiccup the Useless' anymore!"

He grabbed her arms, trying to force her to calm down and look at him. "Hiccup, you know I don't think that, and I never did!"

She pushed him off ruffly. "Then prove it! You should know, better than anyone, that I can take care of myself! Just back off!"

"Hey!" Someone called out from not far away. Hiccup groaned as Snotlout came jogging up to them. Great. Just what they needed.

He raised his eyebrows as he stopped in front of them. "Could you guys be making anymore noise? Seriously, you guys aren't going to shoot anything." He frowned. "Wait, what are you guys doing out here alone anyway? You shouldn't be-"

Hiccup let out a cry of frustration and threw her arms in the air, causing the two boys to step back in surprise. The small girl turned to her cousin, poking his chest hard. "You need to back off, too!" At this point, she was just angry, and there was no calming her anytime soon. Anyone in her path could become the next victim.

She went on. "Ari and I don't need someone watching us 24/7, and we don't need you butting in all the time! So back off!" She took a few steps away, but then turned again and added, "And when we get back, stay away from my dragon!"

Twit stuck his tounge out at the boys as Hiccup stomped away. She made it several yards, hearing Snotlout asking Ari what her problem was, before she stopped.

Twits tail wrapped around Hiccup's upper arm and he clicked. He had heard it too, felt it. A shuffling in the snow, something quickly moving it's feet. But it wasn't Ari or Snotlout. In the next moment, Hiccup had turned around and had her arrow ready. The boys cursed and ducked as she let the arrow fly. But she wasn't aiming at them.

Her arrow sunk deep into a tree. But something had made noise, then more shuffling, and then it was gone. She tried to run forward, to try and catch it or at least see, ignoring the boy's questions. She limped slightly, the weight of her leg bothering her. She made it to the arrow, but whatever she shot at was long gone.

"Gods, Hiccup," Snotlout exclaimed as he and Ari caught up to her. "What the Hel was that for? You didn't have to-"

"Blood."

"What?"

"Blood," she repeated, glancing at Ari as he came up next to her, also examining the arrow. It had blood on it. She _had _hit something. Something _had _been there.

"Oh," came Snotlout, sounding genuinely surprised as he squinted at the arrow. "You hit something." He shrugged. "Maybe next time."

She spun to face him, anger back within her in a second. "I would have killed it this time if you two hadn't shown up!" She stalked away, for good this time, shouting over her shoulder, "Both of you just leave me alone!"

Snotlout scoffed as he watched the small girl and the Terror on her shoulders stomp away. "Women," he grumbled before walking away as well. But Ari wasn't paying attention to him. His eyes were on the arrow.

He grasped it, carefully pulling it out of the tree so as not to damage it. Half of the head had blood on it. Whatever Hiccup had hit, it would have been a deep cut.

He crouched and searched the ground. There were a few blood spots right below where the arrow hit and a few feet away. But then they stopped, which puzzled him. A wound like that would have surely kept bleeding. It was almost as if the animal had covered its wound so as not to drip. But... Animals couldn't do that.

The tracks were weird too. They didn't look like any animal he had ever seen, but they weren't Viking boot marks either. They walked on two legs, so it must be a person. But who?

Well, he didn't know that, but he knew they were smart. Quick to cover the wound so as not to leave a trail, and their footsteps quickly merged with a mess of rabbit tracks, eliminating a way for them to be followed.

One thing was for sure. Hiccup had been right. Whatever she had heard the night before, and then again earlier that morning. She swore that something was out there, but they all dismissed it. He silently cursed himself, thinking of the last time no one believed Hiccup. She was right. He should have known better, known her better, to know that when Hiccup was sure about something, no matter how ridiculous or unimportant it sounded, she was scarcely ever wrong.

And now, he realized, perhaps a day too late, that someone or some people were out there. They were being watched. He could feel it now. And perhaps, even, it was the hunters themselves who were being hunted.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Tuffnut stretched out, leaning back further on his log and closing his eyes, throwing his hands behind his head. He let out a content breath. Though it was cold, he was wearing too much leather and fur to notice or care. His ears were cold though, he thought bitterly as his fingers brushed against his stubby ponytail. He silently cursed Snotlout, then wondered if he could manage to steal Hiccup's 'Earmuffs' without her noticing. He doubted it. Hardly anything escaped Hiccup's notice.

His thoughts continued to wonder in a similar fashion. What else was he to do? At this point in his Viking life, Tuffnut the Mischievous was bored. He thought Viking life as a whole was rather boring. Sure, the dragon's were nice. But that also meant that there was much less action to have on the day to day. There was no war, no challenge, and all the trouble he could get into he'd done as a child. Right then, sitting around and silently waiting for something to wander around for him to shoot was probably the most action he thought he'd seen in quite a while, aside from sailing to their hunting site. That, he loved.

A lot of his boredom was arguably self-inflicted. He complained all the time about his apprenticeship with his father, learning how to take care of sheep. He moped and pouted. He didn't think himself physically impressive enough to train to be a high-ranking soldier. He hadn't even tried to find a girl yet, though the available ones on Berk were few, and he didn't want to marry someone several years younger than him or a complete stranger from another island. Even his hunting, he put little effort into. Rather than making an effort, something that could actually be challenging and beneficial, he chose to wait around for something to come near him. It was pretty effective, as he had already shot down one doe that morning, but it was hardly entertaining.

But that was because he didn't like hunting. He didn't like his boring, day-to-day life on the tiny island of Berk, aside from riding the dragon he shared with his sister. And he most definitely didn't want to be a Shepard.

No, he wanted something different. Like the day six months ago when Hiccup led them into battle with the Beast. He wanted something like that everyday, only with him as leader. Peace? Peace was boring. He wanted action. Adventure. He just wanted something other than the life of a Viking on a peaceful, freezing little island. He just wanted something different.

_Snap. _

His eyes opened. An animal must be nearby, breaking a twig not twenty feet behind him, and was now shuffling in the snow. He smiled almost ruefully. At least it was something to do.

Silently, he stood from his relaxed position and readied his bow and arrow. He crept over the log and behind a tree. He took a breath, then cleared the space between him and his target from behind a boulder, his arrow pointed and ready at... a girl?

She was crouched low on the ground, her back to him, and was rummaging through a satchel. She was bleeding, too, the red stuff dripping down her arm onto the white snow.

"_Maldito,_" she muttered, pulling some cloth from the bag and pressing it to her injury. Tuffnut didn't know that word. Was it another language? Well, he was about to find out.

He finally found his voice. "Hey."

The girl stood and spun around so fast he almost fell back in shock. He didn't even notice that she had drawn her sword as well until a few seconds after as he saw it pointed at him.

He blinked. Rather than focusing on the sword, he was struck then by her beauty. Nothing like what he was used to. The Viking women of Berk and most Vikings in general tended to lean towards the fairer side; blonde or red hair, blue eyes with the occasional green, light skin, freckles. This girl, he thought in all ways was the opposite.

Her skin was a tanned olive tone. Her hair, long and dark, silky smooth. Not a single imperfection to be found on her face. And her eyes... Though they stared at him then wide with anger and a hint of fear, they were stunning. Her large, dark brown eyes locked with his. She took a step forward.

He tightened his hold on the arrow, pulling back farther and effectively stopping her. No matter how beautiful she was, she was still a stranger to this island. That, and she had a sword pointed at him.

"Drop it," he told her firmly. When she didn't move for several seconds, he motioned toward the sword and repeated the command. She looked at the sword, than him and the arrow he had pointed at her. She dropped the sword.

Slowly, he started to make his way towards her. She stepped back at first, but came in contact with a tree. She was smart enough not to run, at least, staying where she was. He kicked her sword away and, when he got close enough, relaxed his bow and pulled his sword instead.

Fear flashed in her eyes once more as he stepped directly in front of her, sword drawn. But, instead of doing what she expected and running her through, his hands came up to her waist.

"_Suéltame_," she exclaimed, trying to free herself from his grasp. He stopped her, pressing his blade lightly to her throat. She stopped, looking at him then with utter disgust and hatred. He continued, but again, he did what she didn't expect.

He pat her down, searching for weapons, only finding a dagger in her leather boot. He put it on his belt, then stood facing her again and sheathed his sword. She looked at him in confusion then, even more so as he grabbed her arm and leaned forward to examine it. She repeated that word, once again trying to free herself from his grasp. He tightened his hold and glanced at her with hard eyes, a warning.

"You're hurt," he told her. Whether she understood his words or not was still lost to him, but he thought she got the message as she stopped. He raised his other hand and gingerly the hasty bandage she had tied on that had already soaked through, pushing it aside to assess the damage. She hissed as he did so. The wound was deep and precise, made by a weapon.

"Who did this to you?" he asked. As expected, she didn't respond, just watched him with calculating eyes. But the question was more for himself. Was it one of his friends? Or were there more people like her running around Berk? That, or she, must have been what Hiccup had been hearing. He almost laughed. Even after everything, they still foolishly dismissed her worries. Hiccup was always right. Why didn't they know this by now?

His attention was drawn back to the girl as she shivered. He noticed her attire, not at all appropriate for a northern island during the winter. Thin leather boots, not fur lined. A single layer of leggings. A simple white shirt with a wide belt. A black leather coat that reached her mid-thigh. She had a scarf, but that was all. She looked freezing.

"Here," he said. She looked at him in utter puzzlement as he let go of her and took his top layer of. He motioned her forward. She did, ever so slightly, and he draped the fur shawl over her shoulders, latching it in place.

She was still looking at him, but he only glanced at her for a moment before grabbing her arm again. "Come on," he said, leading her in the direction of the camp. "Let's see what we can do about that c-" That's when she kneed him.

Again, she had moved so quickly he didn't even register it until it after it happened. He doubled over immediately, groaning in pain. He heard her scramble away, picking up her sword and running in the opposite direction. He punched the ground in anger. Then, mustering all the strength he could find, he stood up. It was slow, and he still held himself in pain, but he got to his feet. He grunted in frustration, seeing her already pretty far off. She was fast. But he couldn't let her get away.

He took a deep breath, shouted, "Hey! Get back here!", then ran after her.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Hiccup sighed and rest her head on her fist. Twit curled up to her in what she guessed was meant to be a comforting gesture. It was working. She had been petting him for some time, and hot anger was slowly chilling.

She couldn't ever remember yelling at Ari like that. Well, there was that one time. Back when Toothless was still a secret and he was in the forge. She had yelled at Ari to make him go away, so that he wouldn't see the Night Fury in the shop. But she did that on purpose. She hadn't meant it. This time, she really had been angry.

Most of the time, she didn't mind that he was protective, almost annoyingly so. It was just in his nature, she realized. That, and she had a rather impressive track record for getting herself into dangerous situations.

But this? 'Checking' on her while she was hunting? Really? Didn't he have enough faith in her to allow her to be alone for a few minutes to shoot some arrows at deer? He had trainer her himself, after all. It's like he didn't trust her. He didn't get it. Just a week previous she had confessed to him why she insisted on going on this trip. She wanted to prove herself, to show her tribe that she wasn't weak, to make them forget about her missing limb. How could she do that with him breathing down her neck?

When she heard him coming, she had half a mind to get up and walk away. But, if she knew him like she thought she did, she knew he was there to apologize. That, and her leg was bothering her too much, anyway.

He sat down right next to her. His hand brushed against hers as he reached over to pet the purring Terror. "I'm sorry I made you lose your kill," he said after a few moments of silence.

He didn't get it. She wanted to yell this at him, but she couldn't find the strength in her so be mad at him anymore.

She sighed. "It's not that. I mean, that's part of it, but it's not what I was mad about." He was quiet, waiting for her to tell him. She sighed again. "Do you not trust me?"

His brows furled. "What?"

"To take care of myself." She turned to him. "Do you not trust me to do that?"

His features relaxed. Now he understood. He ran a hand down his face, then spoke. "That's not it, Hiccup. I know you can protect yourself, that you can shoot down a deer." He smiled softly. "I trained you myself, remember?"

She met his eyes. "Then why?" she asked. "How come everytime I turn around you're breathing down my neck?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Why do you think?" he asked softly. She blinked. now it was her turn to understand. _Oh. _

"It's not that I don't trust you or think you're weak," he went on, voicing what she had figured out. "I've never thought you were weak, and I know that now you're stronger and more skilled than ever. But," he sighed, "I also know that things can happen. Accidents. Something you're not prepared for." He shook his head. "I'm sorry I keep bothering you, but... I've already almost lost you three time. I don't want to take any chances."

"Three?" she asked, only being able to recount one at the moment, during the battle of the Beast. She couldn't pinpoint what specific events he was referring too.

He simply nodded. "Yes. And I think we've gone over this before." He brought his hand up, his fingers lightly brushing her cheek as his soft gaze took in her features. "I can't lose you, Hiccup. I wouldn't be able to bear it."

He hand came up, lacing her fingers in his. "But," she countered, "I think we've also been over that the chance of that happening is just the Viking way of life. Do you think it's any easier for me to know that I could lose you, too?" He couldn't argue with that, so she went on. "Look, I'm not asking you to leave me alone completely. I mean, I need my second-in-command." The shared a soft smile. "But... could you ease up a bit? I'm not going to shoot anything if you keep 'checking' on me."

It seemed like an eternity, but he finally gave her one curt nod. "Okay, Hiccup," he agreed. "But, not until after this trip."

She frowned. "What? Why? That was the whole point of-" He stopped her as he pulled out her arrow, the one she had left back there in the tree.

"Whatever you shoot," he explained, handing it to her, "it wasn't an animal."

What? Her mind reeled. Did that mean she... "You mean," she voiced, "I shot a... person? How do you know? It wasn't Ruff or Tuff, was it? Fishlegs?"

He shook his head. "The footprints, they're not animal marks, but they don't match any of our boots either. The person you shot was smart. They covered their wound so that they wouldn't drip and leave a trail, and then merged their footprints with other animals so they couldn't be followed."

She eyed the arrow. She realized now, seeing how much blood was on it, that the wound was deep. "But who?" she asked, turning to him. "Who would be out there, watching us?"

He shrugged. "Whoever you've been hearing. Sorry about that, by the way."

She waved him off, hardly bothered that no one listened to her. She was used to it. "What should we do?" she asked after a moment. "Look for them? Pack up and go home?" She scratched the purring Terror under it's chin. "Send Twit back with a note?"

He shrugged again. "It's up to you. I'll support your decision, and I'm sure the others will too, one the evidence is shown. For now, my only suggestion is that we hunt in pairs. We won't kill as much, but it will be safer."

She thought about it. Should they go home early? What would her father, the tribe, think? Then again, would their suspicions and possible disapproval be worth abandoning the trip in light of the new found danger? It could just be a hermit, and they had just invaded his normally private area. Then again, it could be someone else. Strangers on Berk was a big deal. They could be anyone. Traders, there to steal resources. Outcasts. Or, Odin forbid, Pirates.

But, it could also be nothing. Like a hermit. Hel, even one of her father's scouts sent to check on them. She doubted that, but it was still a possibility. Besides, she wasn't ready to go home yet. She hadn't shot anything yet. And she didn't want to run scared, or even have it look like she had.

She sighed, finally coming to a decision. "We'll stay. If they show themselves, we'll deal with it, and then we'll leave. But for now, we hunt in pairs."

He nodded. "Okay, Hiccup." He stood then and held his hand out to her. "It's getting dark. Lets head back."

Twit scrambled up to her shoulders as she grabbed Ari's hand. She knew before they did it that it would hurt. Despite how hard she tried not to, she grit her teeth and seethed as he helped her up.

"Whoa," he said, immediately supporting her. "What's wrong? Is it your leg?"

"Yes," she admitted after a moment. "The weight of it. The straps are pulling at my skin every time I step. It's making my whole leg ache." She sighed. "I know I'll get used to it, but I realize now that I should have done that before we left."

He nodded, understanding. He moved to pick her up. "Here, let me-"

"No, don't," she protested. "It's not far. I can walk."

"Hiccup." She met his eyes. "I'm not judging you. I'm just here to help." He raised his eyebrows. "Okay?"

Despite herself, her lips twitched up in a smile. Of course he was. It was in his nature. "Okay."

He turned then, crouching low for her to get on his back. She did, and he picked her up smoothly and started forward. She sighed into his neck and held him tightly all the way back to camp.

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

_**Sorry if I've offended anyone with my terrible Spanish, but I'm pretty sure that's right. It's my second language and I hardly use it so I'm not that great...**_

_**Speaking of Spanish, do I have any readers who read it? As it turns out, the first story of this series is now being written in Spanish, as I have agreed to it. Here is the link: s/9521026/1/The-Mirrors-of-Eyes **_

_**The reason I've agreed to it is that they also said it would be a little different from mine (rated M, for one), and they would also give me credit for the idea/most of the story line. I've read part of it, and have gathered so far that they have given me credit and it is a little bit different from mine, but again, my Spanish isn't that great. But I encourage you all to check it out if you read Spanish! From what I can tell so far they are a pretty good writer! Plus, they are super nice and asked me first, which I appreciate. :)**_

_**Anyway, now is the time for a quote! From the upcoming story, 'Through the Eyes of Children: The Warriors', I give you a quote from... Thuggery! **_

_**"I fight with the Dragon Conqueror." **_

_**Some of you (those who haven't read the books) probably don't know who Thuggery is. No worries. You will soon. He's in this story, too. :)**_

_**Until next time!**_

_**~StoriesOfAnInsomniac**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Well, only a day late. I'm getting better. :)**_

_**Here it is guys, chapter 7. We're getting closer and closer to the abrupt end of this hunting trip. Things are about to get pretty cray...**_

_**Erm, this chapter isn't that long, but you get an awesome meet+greet with the new character, and then some alone time with everyone's favorite Night Fury. :) **_

_**Plus, I'd like to point out how incredibly difficult it is to write chapters where all six of the amazing yet very different characters are talking. Before I started writing this I had a rough draft of what I wanted said, and then I had to figure out who would say that and how they would say it. Managing six personalities is very frustrating. I think I did okay though, but I guess that's up to you. :) **_

_**Anyway, Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

"I found Hiccup's ghost."

Night was falling around them, so they all had to squint as Tuffnut entered the camp. When he stepped into the light of the fire, they gaped as their eyes fell on what he was pushing in front of him. Snotlout's jaw went slack. Fishlegs dropped his book. Hiccup shot up on her foot with the help of Ari, and Ruffnut exclaimed a very offensive phrase.

Berk was not a big island. Compared to others in the Northern Region, it was rather small. And, being so far north, they didn't have many visitors. Hiccup, being the Chief's daughter, was the only one who really came in contact with outsiders, as she accompanied her father whenever he met with traders or the occasional official or royal from another tribe. But this, even she had never seen before. A stranger? On their island? Alone, so it seemed, and wandering the uninhibited part of the island.

The girl was bound at the wrists, gagged, and blindfolded. She struggled against Tuff's strong grip until he finally let her go, pushing her forward just enough so that she lost her footing and fell on her knees in front of the group.

Ari was the first to speak. "Were there others?"

"No," Tuffnut told him. "She thought she lost me at one point and ran straight to her camp. One tent and just a few things, only enough for one person, and no one else was around."

"You chased her?" his sister asked, now right beside him. She eyed the bruise forming on his temple, brushing her finger against it. "Did she beat you up first?" She smiled. "I like her already."

"She could have led you right into a trap," came Snotlout. "Or maybe she wanted you to catch her so you would bring her back here."

Tuffnut winced as his sister tended to him. "Well she didn't, and I caught her. And I'm not dumb. I blindfolded her before I led her back, obviously."

The conversation continued, but Hiccup wasn't paying attention. Slowly, she had made her way over to the girl. Interestingly enough, this girl reminded her of Toothless, back when she first saw him. She was scared, angry, overwhelmed, and by the looks of it, wounded. Bound, with no way out. And, she hoped, misunderstood.

She knelt in front of her. The girl tensed up, sensing her presence.

"Careful," Tuff warned as she reached out to her, rubbing his arm tenderly in annoyance. "She bites."

Due to his warning, Hiccup went of the blindfold first. Carefully, she slid the fabric off the girl's head.

The reaction was immediate. The girl looked around wildly, trying to take in all of her surroundings at once. Her eyes landed on each person, pausing a few seconds on Tuffnut with a look of hatred, and then they met Hiccup's. she paused again, looking at Hiccup skeptically, confused, like she expected something different, as if she wondered why the others had let _her _be the one to approach her. Her expression quickly changed, however, as Twit appeared on Hiccup's shoulders, ever curious as to what was going on.

A muffled exclamation came from her mouth due to the gag and she scrambled backward. She didn't make it far, her back coming in contact with a tree. Snotlout took this opportunity to tie her to it.

Twit, offended by this reaction, stuck his tongue out and hopped away, choosing instead to climb up on Tuffnut's shoulder, where he proceeded to lick a cut on the boy's cheek.

"She must not be from around here," came Fishlegs.

"Well no duh, brains," Tuff answered, wincing as the tiny dragon continued to 'help'. "No one on Berk would run from a Terror. Besides, none of our women look anything like that." He gestured at the girls features as she stared at him, completely puzzled by the dragon's behavior on his shoulder and how no one seemed to be bothered by it.

"So who is she?" Snotlout asked as he finished fastening her to the tree.

"Well, lets ask her," Hiccup decided, once again sitting in front of her.

"I don't think you'll get much out of her," Tuffnut said just as she freed the girl of her gag.

"_Desátame!_" she cried immediately. "_Desátame ahora, gilipollas!"_

"Uhm, that's not Norse," Ruffnut voiced what they were all thinking. "What's she saying?"

"I'm not sure," Hiccup told her, "but I think she just called us 'assholes'."

"Well, that makes sense," came Tuffnut. "She was calling me that all the way up to when I gagged her."

"Wait, you can understand her?" Snotlout asked. Hiccup swore that she saw a second of surprise flash on the girl's face too, but if it was there at all it soon vanished.

Ari didn't seem surprised at all. "What language is she speaking?" he asked as he crouched down next to her.

"Spanish," Hiccup told him. "She looks spanish, too."

The girl was struggling again. "_Desátame ahora!" _she repeated. "_Voy a matar a todos!"_

"Ooh," Hiccup winced. "She's not happy at all."

"What's she saying?" Ari asked.

She turned to him, eyebrows raised. "She wants to kill us."

"Does someone want to explain how Hiccup knows what she's saying?" Tuffnut asked in frustration. So Hiccup did.

"Traders," she told them. "The Spanish come every summer. We buy a lot of fabric from them. And, more recently," she met Ari's eyes, "chocolate."

He raised his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth turned up as the others asked them what 'chocolate' was. He ignored them though, and turned his attention back to the girl. "So what do you think? Is she hostile? An Outcast? A runaway, maybe?"

Hiccup turned back to the girl as well, who was eying them as they discussed her fate. She shook her head. "I doubt she dangerous," she said.

"I beg to differ," came Tuff as his sister finished up. "I think she broke a rib."

"I don't think she actually wants to hurt us," Hiccup went on, ignoring him. "I think she's just scared. A runaway, maybe. Or abandoned. She must have come from a trade ship or something."

"Well, can you ask her?" Snotlout asked, impatient.

"I can try." Hiccup cleared her throat, trying to recall any Spanish she knew from what he father taught her or just by listening to them talk when they negotiated.

"Uhm..." she began. "_Mi nombre es... _Hiccup." The girl blinked, once again surprised. Hiccup went on, slowly but surely. "_Cuál es su... nombre?_"

It was a long while before the girl responded. Everyone held their breath as the girl stared at Hiccup once again with that skeptical look on her face. Finally, she spoke, and everyone understood her.

"Anna," she said. "Anna Francia."

"Anna," Hiccup repeated, trying it out. She gave her a smile. "_Gusto en conocerlo._"

Anna's eyes narrowed. "_Igualmente," _she said, though it sounded sarcastic. "_Vas a dejar que me vaya? Le sugiero que lo haga._"

"Okay," Tuff cut in. "This is killing me. Will someone please translate?"

Hiccup scratched her head with a sigh. "I'm only getting every few words, but I know she wants us to let her go." She sighed again. "I only know the basics in Spanish. You know, 'Hi, my name is', 'How are you?', 'We won't hurt you', 'Please don't kill me'..."

"Where would she go?" Ruff asked. "Back out into the freezing forest? She's alone, isn't she?"

Hiccup turned back to Anna, asking her the same question simplified in what she could translate. "_Dónde... ir? Estás solo?"_

Anna blinked, caught off guard by the question. She didn't seem to have an answer to the first question, but to the second, she answered quietly, "_Sí._"

Hiccup told the group that she said she was alone. "Then why in such a hurry to leave?" Ari asked, looking Anna's eyes, even though they were sure she didn't understand. "We could help you."

"Yeah," Tuff seconded. "Plus, she's hurt. A deep cut on her arm. Did someone shoot at her or something?"

Hiccup's eyes were then drawn to Anna's arm. "I did," she confessed as she examined the wound. She gingerly reached out and grabbed her elbow to get a better look. "I thought she was a deer, but she ran away too quickly for me to see." She pulled out her arrow from her sheath, showing it to Anna. "_Lo siento …_" she apologized.

For probably the tenth time in the time that had elapsed, Anna looked at Hiccup in surprise. It was Hiccup that had shot her? This small girl in front of her? But Hiccup ignored this look as she once again examined her wound closely.

"Ruff," she called. A few seconds later, the twin girl was at her side. "What do you think?"

The healer took a glance at it. She shrugged. "Stitches, probably. It'll hurt, but it will be worth it." She took Anna's arm in her hand to get a better look at it, already rummaging through her bag. But Anna tore her arm away and spoke loudly in Spanish, so quick that Hiccup didn't even pick up a word.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she tried to calm the girl, holding her hands up. "_Cálmate, por favor. No queremos hacer daño a usted!_" It worked somewhat. She stopped struggling and looked back at Hiccup. She spoke softer, lowering her hands. "_Queremos ayudar._"

Anna eyed her once more, but this time, she looked small. Vulnerable. Confused, like she didn't understand what Hiccup was saying, even though it was in her own language. "_Quieres ayudar?_" she asked softly after a few moments. "_No me vas a matar?_"

"No," Hiccup shook her head. "We're not going to kill you."

"We're not?" Snotlout asked, frustrated. "Don't tell me we're helping her."

"Why wouldn't we?" Ari spoke as he stood up. "She's alone, she's hurt, and you tied her up. It's not like she's going to kill us in our sleep." He turned to Tuff. "Do did check her for weapons, right?"

Tuff rolled his eyes, offended at having been asked, then tossed him Anna's sword belt. Ari caught it with ease, then took the sword out to examine it before latching it to his own belt.

"_Mi papá..._" Anna cried quietly. They all turned to her, but she quickly bit her lip. She eyed the sword longingly, almost looking scared at the sight of it on Ari's hip. Ari raised his eyebrows in question.

"It's her father's," Hiccup told him. "Or was. Uhm," she turned back to the girl, "I don't know how to say this in spanish but... He'll keep it safe, okay?" Anna blinked at the sword, then back at Hiccup. Hiccup gave her a smile. "It's okay." Anna was hardly reassured.

With that, Ruff went to work on the spanish girl and Hiccup stood up and stepped away to take a breather. It was a lot to take in. She wished that she had a better way to clear her head. She wished she could go for a flight. Toothless was a remarkable listener, and the wind seemed to take all troubles far from mind.

She felt Ari come up behind her. "Hiccup," he spoke softly. "What are you thinking?" She knew he wasn't asking about where her thoughts were wondering. He wanted to know what her plan was for right then, with Anna. He was waiting for her to decide what to do.

She sighed, turning to him. "I don't think she's a bad person," she told him. "I don't think she wants to hurt us, either, now that she knows we won't hurt her. But" she added, eyeing the sword, "I wouldn't be surprised if she was hiding something."

Ari nodded, agreeing. "So what do you want to do? Set sail? Bring her with us?"

That was probably the smartest thing to do. But, even though she missed Toothless and wanted to be home more than anything, she wasn't ready to leave yet. They didn't have much food to bring back yet, and she hadn't even shot anything except Anna. What would the tribe think if all they brought home was Anna? Another mouth to feed would probably be most's thoughts. Besides, she had said she was alone, and Tuffnut confirmed it. It didn't seem like they were in any danger.

So she shook her head. "No. It's not as bad as we expected, just one runaway. We'll be fine. But from now on, during night watches we keep our weapons in hand and eyes on her, and we hunt in pairs, one pair always remaining behind to watch Anna. We won't shoot as much, but it will be safer, and we won't go home with nothing."

If he had an opinion, he didn't voice it. He just nodded. "Okay. I'll tell the others."

But he didn't leave right away. They were away from the eyes of the group, so she stepped closer to her, knowing they wouldn't be teased, that they could have their moment. He exhaled softly and brushed his fingers against her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, her hand unconsciously reaching out and gripping his fur vest. It felt so good, having him there. When the situation was stressful and nothing was going right, he knew how to keep her focused, whether it was being a good second-in-command, or being an even better partner. Standing tall by her side, or just holding her when she needed to be held. He always seemed to know how to keep her in check.

"We'll be home soon," he whispered, as if he were reading her thoughts. He pressed his lips to her hair. "Two more days." She nodded, then leaned into him further. He held her for a moment, but all too soon he pulled back. "Now, go sleep. Rest your leg." He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. "Goodnight, Hiccup." And then he was gone.

She stepped into her and Ruffnut's tent just as Ari relayed the plan to the others. She laid down, quickly burying herself under her furs. For some reason, right then she felt like crying. Why? She wasn't sure. Everything was fine. They had found the person in the woods, and she wasn't a threat. They would be hunting in pairs. They were together, safe. Everything was fine. So why did she feel an ache in the pit of her stomach, a stinging behind her eyes?

She rolled over, trying in vain to get comfortable. It wasn't so much the hard ground. She'd slept on worse. And she had plenty of furs to keep her warm. But she felt... empty. Alone.

Toothless.

She realized then how much she missed him. She missed her large, scaly Night Fury that took up almost the whole bed, but still kept her warm through the night. She missed flying with him, them working together to perform crazy stunts and the feel of the wind on her face. She missed confiding in him, telling him everything, even though she knew he didn't understand most of what she was saying. He understood her feelings, at least, and that's what was important. She wanted to tell him about how mad she had gotten at Ari that morning, and then Snotlout. She wanted to tell him about Anna, how confused and yet relieved she was at her presence. But, even more so, and even stranger, she wanted him to lick her cheek, his way of telling her he loved her and that everything would be okay.

She sighed, clutching her pillow and closing her eyes, knowing it would be a long while before she fell asleep.

She missed Toothless.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

The Night Fury huffed and shifted once more.

He hadn't done much in the past two days. He hadn't had the motive, the want, or the energy, really. His human's father and shook his head at him, calling him the 'Most Lazy Thing on Berk', whatever that meant. He kept repeating it every so often.

The large human understood, though. Toothless could tell that he was sad, too. How could they be happy when Hiccup was gone?

Toothless missed his human. He missed her funny red fur that always tickled his nose. He missed their long flights. He hadn't even been on one since she left, though the large human had offered to take him more than once. He also missed when she showed him her feelings. She talked a lot, and though he didn't know what she was saying, he understood.

He wondered what she was feeling now. He hoped it was good things. He didn't want her to be sad or hurt. He was worried about that, as was the large human. Those young humans were all by themselves, and they, the dragons, were out of reach. They couldn't protect them.

He knew his human wasn't weak. She could defend herself. And her mate was there. He was very strong. He wouldn't let his human get hurt. But still, it worried him. He just wanted her to come home. Two more suns seemed like forever.

He huffed again and shifted on the mattress once more, covering his head in her favorite fur.

He missed Hiccup.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**Well, there ya' have it. Let me know what you think? :)**_

_**Btw, ten bucks says almost every single one of you went to google translate for this chapter. Spanish, baby. Gotta love it. :) Just felt like throwin' you guys off a little bit...**_

_**I'm not sure why I complained about the six characters earlier. As I may have hinted, there are going to be several new characters. This is child's play. Just wait until we get on the *spoiler!* Pirate Ship. This is going to be interesting...**_

_**Here's a quote from the upcoming story, 'Through the Eyes of Children: The Warriors'! This one is from... Camicazi! Because she really says the most amazing things...**_

_**"Yeah! Bone him like a fish, Hiccup!"**_

_**Oh yes. Camicazi is probably the most amazing character I've ever depicted. **_

_**Until next week!**_

_**~StoriesOfAnInsomniac**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Herrow. **_

_**Because I missed last week, I'm going to post another chapter tomorrow. Sorry about that...**_

_**I'm actually doing writing for work now. Like, getting paid for it. It's kind of hard to balance doing actual work and then just writing for fun, but I'm setting aside some time every night now to get these chapters ready for you. :)**_

_**Anyway, here's chapter 8. Chapter 9 will be up tomorrow. Hope you like it!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

Having Anna around was nothing short of perplexing. No one seemed to know quite what to do, but they went about their business in as normal a fashion as possible.

The Spanish girl didn't say much after that night except to answer when asked a question, and even then she only replied with 'Si' or 'No". Ari, Hiccup and, oddly enough, Tuffnut had thought of asking her more, but Hiccup's Spanish was limited and she doubted she would be able to ask her much, let alone understand what she would tell them.

Tuff took the pair to her camp the next morning. Ari confirmed that she was alone, the only prints on the site being her's and Tuff's. There wasn't much there either, just a tent, blankets, and a few items of food, so they packed up her things and brought them back to their camp.

"She can't have been here long," Ari noted on the way back.

"What makes you say that?" Hiccup asked, carefully stepping over a pothole in the ground.

"The food," he told them. "It's all pre prepared. Nothing hunted. When did you say it was that the last Spanish trade ship came through?"

"A little over a month ago. That's when my father bought the chocolate."

"Two things," Tuff butt in, adjusting the folded up tent on his shoulder. "One, what is chocolate? And two, how else would she have gotten here but by trade ship?"

Ari shook his head, ignoring his first question. "I don't know, but it can't have been long ago. This food would have spoiled in the time the last one came through to now."

Hiccup sighed. "So then we have two options, both of which are highly unlikely. Either she is a runaway, leaving her ship when it was at sea and somehow got here on a lifeboat, or-" she yelped, falling on the ground on her hands and knees. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, willing the spots in her vision to go away. That had hurt much more than she was going to let on. In truth, her leg had been bothering her more and more. The fragile skin and muscles on what was left of her leg wasn't used to the weight of her new prosthetic. And now, she had just twisted her whole leg. But she didn't want the others, especially Ari, to know that. So, she took a deep breath in before she started picking up the contents of Anna's bag that she had spilled in the fall.

Ari knelt down to help her, picking up most of the items and then holding the bag out to her when he was finished. "Here. You alright?" When she didn't take it, he frowned. "Hiccup?"

She didn't respond right away. Her eyes were fixed on the parchment she'd just unrolled that came from Anna's bag, her fingers gripping the edges tightly. "Or she's a spy."

"What?" he asked. Both the boys were by her side now, looking over her shoulder.

Tuff broke the ice. "Uhm, why would she have a map of Berk?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Hiccup said, handing the map to Ari so he could look at it more closely. "I can't imagine where she could have gotten it from."

"Not in a trade?" Ari asked.

She shook her head. "I doubt it, unless they were a regular customer, in which we would just give them one so they'd know where the port was, but at that point they wouldn't need one." She sighed. "I have no idea at this point. Let's just keep an eye on her. My father can ask her more when we get back."

Ari rolled up the map and put it on his belt, then held a hand out to help her up. She grabbed it and they got her standing, but she grimaced as they did so.

Ari gave her a hard look, noticing, but she ignored it, giving him an innocent smile. "Lets get back to camp," she told them. "We're losing hunting time."

Both the boys watched her walk away for a moment. Tuff heaved the tent back over his shoulder. "She's a terrible liar," he noted, also having noticed Hiccup's failed attempt at subtlety.

Ari sighed and shook his head as they both started following her. "Yeah," he agreed. "I know."

They only walked for another moment, and then they were running. Hiccup had fallen again, but this time she cried out, and she wasn't getting back up.

The boys were at her side immediately, helping her back into a sitting position. She winced as they did so, gritting her teeth. Ari's hands went for her leg, but Tuffnut's were already there. Right. With both his mother and sister being Healers, he could probably help more that Ari could.

"Damn, Hiccup," the twin exclaimed as he exposed her skin. What was left of her leg was severely bruised, and the straps had been pulling on the skin so much that she had even started to bleed. He was already starting to unbuckle the prosthetic. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm fine..." she said through her teeth, even though they all knew she wasn't. Her eyelids fluttered slightly as she tried to bear the pain. Once Tuff pulled off the prosthetic, however, she couldn't help it. She cried out. She hadn't even realized she was holding Ari's hand until she was squeezing so hard she thought she might break it. Spots clouded her vision, and Ari tried to keep her conscious.

"Stay with me, come on," he said. "Don't fall asleep."

Eventually, her breathing returned to normal and she could see more clearly. She opened her eyes to find Tuff securing a makeshift bandage around her leg.

"We should get her back," he said. "Ruff probably has something that will help."

Ari nodded in agreement. He stood, already picking up all of Anna's things by himself.

"Uhm, what are you doing?" Tuff asked what both he and Hiccup were thinking.

Ari met the other boy's eyes for a moment. "You carry Hiccup. I've got the rest."

_Excuse me? _Hiccup thought just as Tuff said, "What? You want _me _to carry Hiccup?" _What in Odin's name...?_ "Seriously?"

"Yes," Ari answered, picking up the last of it. He looked like a pack-mule. His face suddenly became hard. "But _only _because I doubt that you could carry all of this stuff on your own, and I want to get Hiccup back as soon as possible. The cold isn't good for her wound."

Oh. Hiccup rolled her eyes. That was Ari. Always logical. Tuff took this differently, completely offended by Ari's words. But after another hard glare, he eventually gave in, grumbling as he bent down to pick the small girl up. "Here," he said before he put his arms around her, tossing her her prosthetic. "Hold your leg."

_**~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

True to Tuffnut's guess, his sister had the right tools to help Hiccup.

Even though he set her down gently, Hiccup winced as Tuff set her down when they got back to camp. Ruff immediately started working on her, but Hiccup's attention was elsewhere.

Anna's eyes had been on her since they stepped into the vicinity of the camp. She looked surprised at first, then curious, then completely horrified. Hiccup realized how it must have looked. Her being carried in with only one leg, the other being held against her chest, how the others weren't reacting much to it. Not as they should if someone had just lost their leg, that is. Hiccup's prosthetic really did look real. Anna was completely clueless to the fact that Hiccup's leg had been like that for over six months.

Hiccup could tell that things were slowly starting to click in Anna's head as Ruff was finishing up. For one, there wasn't that much blood. Two, they would immediately be packing up and leaving if anyone was hurt that badly. And three, when Ruff was done, she latched Hiccup's prosthetic back into place.

Ari wouldn't even hear her insisting that she was ready to hunt. The others would hunt, in pairs, and she would remain there. She wasn't hunting. She was resting for the day. Hiccup huffed in irritation, but there was really no point in arguing with him. She really wasn't up for walking at the moment. In the end, she stayed behind.

She sighed as she leaned against the tree Anna was tied to. It was the closest one to the fire and, oddly enough, Hiccup thought she might like the company.

Anna was still looking at her prosthetic. It looked like she was trying to figure out if it had been a joke, like it was a trick or something. Hiccup turned it a little so she could see it better.

"Pretty stupid, right?" she asked her, even though she knew she wouldn't understand. "Well, I think it is, anyway." Anna eyed her, but didn't say anything. So Hiccup continued.

She shrugged. "I lost it a little over half a year ago. My dragon, Toothless, bit it." Twit the Terror chose this moment to hop up on Hiccup's lap. Anna furled her eyes at the tiny thing. "Not this one, obviously. My dragon is a lot bigger." She sighed. "He didn't bite it off or anything. Just damaged it. But I was bleeding a lot, and I got infection, so they had to cut it off."

She didn't know why she was opening up to this girl. It's not like she can understand her. But it felt good somehow, to talk about it, with someone who didn't know about the situation and couldn't give an opinion about it. Despite herself, she cracked a smile. "My friends saved me," she went on. "Ruff, the one that wrapped your arm. And Ari, the taller blonde one that's always telling people what to do. He's the one who cut it off. I think it was harder on him than it was for me. At first, anyway. He felt guilty. But, now... Now I just feel weak." She sighed again, busying herself with scratching behind Twit's ears. "I'm afraid everyone else thinks so, too. They say they don't but... I don't know. I feel like they do." She looked at her. "I know you do. I saw it in your eyes when Tuff first brought you back to camp." She laughed bitterly. "What you must think of me know that you know I only have one leg."

Hiccup didn't know it, but Anna's opinion of her was much higher than she would ever realize.

_**~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~**_

At first, the group had disagreed to the hunting pairings. Mostly this was just the pairing of Ari and Hiccup, as the others were convinced that they would get nothing done, and Snotlout didn't want the pair to be alone.

However, after a 'trial run', Ari and Hiccup hunting together proved to be more successful than any of the others combined. Before noon had set in, Hiccup had finally gotten her Buck, and Ari had shot down two does.

"Impressive shooting," Snotlout complimented her as he examined her kill. "Right through the heart." Anna, too, looked impressed as she strained to get a better look at Hiccup's work from where she was bound.

"_Bien hecho,_" she said.

"_Gracias_," Hiccup told them both, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. Even with Ari's strenght to help, carrying the large animal back had been nothing short of taxing. They had to keep going, though. Make up for the day before. This was their last day. They were already starting to pack up. They would be leaving in a few hours. She pushed off the tree she leaned against, having not trusted herself to sit down, doubting that her leg would allow her to get back up.

She looked at Ari. "Lets go," she told him. "We can probably get something before we have to leave."

"Hiccup," he called, quickly grabbing her arm before she walked away. "Hunting can wait. You should rest."

She huffed in irritation and pulled away from his loose grip. "I'm fine," she insisted. "You can stay if you want, I'm going either way."

"No," he said, grabbing her again. "We're staying together."

Once again, she pulled away and glared at him. "Then _hurry up,_" she practically hissed.

"Uh oh," she heard Tuffnut say as she stomped away, once again, from Ari. "Mommy and Daddy are fighting again."

_**~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Tuffnut sat down next to Anna with some soup in hand, shaking his head as Ari went after Hiccup. "Gods," he said. "She's the most stubborn Viking to walk the Earth." He turned back to Anna. "Don't worry, though. Ari will knock some sense into her. That's his job."

Anna stared at him blankly, so he just shrugged. Right. She didn't understand him. He looked down at the soup, then frowned. "Hey, Ruff!" he called to his sister. "How do you say 'food' in Spanish?"

"How should I know?" she called back from the tent she was packing up. "Just show it to her. God, she not stupid!"

He glared at her, then turned his attention back to Anna, grumbling about trying to be nice. He sighed and held the bowl up to her lips, motioning for her to drink. She did, tentatively taking a sip of the broth.

"She's not weak, you know," Tuffnut told her as she drank. She eyed him curiously. "Hiccup, I mean. I mean, she thinks she is, but she's actually, like, the strongest out of all of us." Why was he talking to this girl? He didn't know. For some reason, it just felt good.

"She was saving our lives, you know, when she lost her leg. She pretty much just gave it up for us, even though we totally didn't deserve it. Now she thinks she's weak, even though she has, like, the coolest battle scar ever." He shrugged. "She just needs to rest sometimes. She helped us once, now it's our turn to help her."

She finished off the soup. His fingers found her bandage, brushing against it. "We all need help sometimes."

Her eyes watched his fingers as they touched her, then went up to meet his. But he had already looked away, his eyes now on the bowl as he set it aside. She opened and closed her mouth, as if she was debating on saying something. But she didn't.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Her heart sunk when she heard Tuff say that. She hadn't meant to be mean to Ari. It's not him that she was mad at. Her sour mood had been progressively growing since the beginning of the trip. And she was tired. Tired and hurt, sore. She had been fighting back the tears from the pain in her leg since earlier that morning. No, she wasn't mad at Ari.

Even so, it was a while before they spoke. She could hear him, walking just two steps behind her. She knew they were going pretty slow, too, because she was going slow, which just made her more irritated.

Finally, he let out a frustrated sigh. "Hiccup, let's just stop for a second. You're not going to be able to hit anything if you're tired and stomping around. Your reflexes as shot."

That was it. She snapped. Quicker that either had thought possible, she had spun around and drawn her sword, pushing him up against a tree and the blade to his throat. He raised his eyebrows, looking at her in surprise.

"See?" she said, as if this had just proved a point. "I'm fine. If I can pin you to a tree faster than you can react, then I can sure as Hel shoot a deer."

"Not quite," he said softly. That's when Hiccup felt it. She looked down, at the dagger Ari had pointed to her stomach. "Whenever you are fighting anyone," he told her, "and you've almost lost, that is the moment. Right when they think they have won, that is when they are most vulnerable."

She only thought about this for a moment before she dismissed it and pushed off him in frustration. "A deer isn't going to come at me with a dagger," she shot back, putting her sword back and continuing her trek. "I'm so not in the mood for your lessons right now."

"Hiccup, wait." He quickly stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. She didn't even have time to angrily ask him 'what' before he had cupped her face and was kissing her. She tried to be angry about this, she tried really hard. She even thought of pushing him away. But she couldn't. She couldn't resist him. No matter how tired or sore or irritated she was, the best she could do was be somewhat stiff against him.

"I don't like fighting," he told her when he pulled away, resting his head against hers. "And we've been doing it a lot lately. With this trip and all the weird things happening... I think it's getting to us. Can we just... stop for a second?" He kissed her again, softer this time. "Please?"

She was already relaxing against him. She shook her head softly. "I'm not mad at you," she whispered against his lips.

"I know," he replied just as soft, then closed the gap.

She didn't like what this trip was doing to their relationship. As wonderful as kissing him was, she hated this back and forth thing they had going on. One minute, they'd be arguing or yelling at each other, and the next they'd be making-out in the frozen wood while they should have been hunting. If anything it just made her more irritated. It was all very confusing.

Still, she couldn't complain when he deepened the kiss, his hands slowly traveling further and further down until he reached her thighs and he lifted her up. She winced slightly, but hid it as a sharp breath as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. It was even worse when her leg was suspended, the weight of it making the straps pull at her skin and muscles. But she didn't say anything, and Ari didn't seem to notice, being much too distracted at that moment in time.

He supported her against a tree, his hands roaming, and at one point slipping underneath her layers and touching her skin. His hands were like ice, but it only made her grip tighter on his hair.

She didn't want to stop. Not for a while, anyway. For some reason, kissing Ari, being that close to him, started to bring everything back into focus. Things were starting to make sense again, to come back in prospective. In fact, she was about ready (when they were done, of course) to ask him to carry her back to camp so that Ruffnut could look at her leg. But then she heard bushes rustle not far behind them.

She gasped as she pulled away, completely breathless. "Stop."

He pulled back, brows furled in confusion. "What?"

She was already pushing, scrambling off of him. "_Stop,_" she whisper shouted, finally getting on the ground and readying her bow and arrow.

He was still standing there, lost. "What's the-"

She clasped a hand over his mouth, effectively stopping him. She brought her armed hand to her face and put a finger to her lips. He blinked. She pointed behind them, where their target was currently grazing. He nodded, understanding, and then they were crouched low on the ground, stalking their prey. It didn't take long for them to sneak up on it, and Ari supported her when she leaned out into sight and shot at the beast.

The arrow hit home.

"Yes!" Hiccup exclaimed as the beast fell. She jumped up and grabbed Ari in excitement, laughing. "Yes!" He was laughing too, and he picked her up and spun her around. And for a moment, everything seemed right again. They were hunting, going through their right of passage, they were together, and they weren't fighting. Yes, Anna was there, but she wasn't a threat to them. Everything would be fine. And for a moment, everything was.

And then that moment ended.

They both separated and spun around as strange clapping entered their ears.

"Well done," said the man that stood before them. It took Hiccup all of two seconds to take him in. He was older, tall and lean. The only hair on his head was a weird, tiny little beard and a long, curly mustache. He only had one hand, the other replaced by a hook, and a patch covered one of his eyes. He wore all black, thin clothing with a cloak on top. Unconsciously, Hiccup shivered. Everything about him, everything, chilled her right to the bone, and he had only said two words to them.

He was beating his hook into his hand, the weird clapping. "Well done," he repeated. He took a few steps forward. It was then that Hiccup realized he wasn't alone. Two burly looking men were behind him, following suit.

"Now," the cloaked man said, drawing his sword, "where is my Spanish Girl?"

_**~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~**_

_**And...Enter Alvin! Haha! Gosh, I love him. He's the best evil Pirate ever. **_

_**Hope you guys liked it! Let me know if you did or not, what you would have liked to see different, etc. I accept any and all reviews. :) Except for nasty ones that just say things like 'you suck'. Those are just rude. **_

_**Also, someone said they didn't like the Spanish part in the last chapter. I also owe a bunch of people ten bucks but... we'll talk about that later. Anyway, if you didn't like it, have no fear. That was pretty much the bulk of the Spanish in the story right there. There was a reason for it, which will be shown later, partly in the next chapter, but there won't be much of it from here on out.**_

_**And now a quote from the upcoming story 'Through the Eyes of Children: The Warriors'. This one is from... Big-Boobied Bertha!**_

_**"Please. You're no Chieftain. You're just a child. How long have you been married and you haven't even bared a child? What makes you think you're anywhere near the same rank of authority as me?" **_

_**Some of you don't know who this is. Well... you'll find out. :)**_

_**Until tomorrow!**_

_**~StoriesOfAnInsomniac**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**As promised, for missing last week, here it the next chapter. **_

_**This is the part where it starts to get pretty gruesome, and by the end of this chapter... I have no doubt that some of you will hate me. Sorry... but not really... It's for the good of the story, I promise. :S**_

_**Anyway, with that depressing note said, here it is. Hope you like it.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

In the next second, Hiccup and Ari had their swords drawn.

"Who are you?" Ari demanded, sounding more vicious than Hiccup could ever remember.

The cloaked man didn't even flinch. "Oh, pardon me," he excused himself. "I don't believe I've introduced myself." He held out his hook, as if offering it to shake. "My name is Alvin, the Poor But Honest Farmer."

Hiccup was frozen, her knuckles white on her sword. Never before had she faced a man as a real threat before, needed to be prepared to fight someone for real. It had only ever been dragons, and that was only briefly. But now... this was a man, two others behind him, and never had she been more terrified of someone in her life. She stayed strong, holding her ground and her sword, but she couldn't find her voice.

Ari found it for her. "Right," he said, venom dripping off his words. "And I suppose your henchmen behind you care for the sheep."

Alvin sighed, looking mockingly defeated. "You're right," he said, "it's not a very good lie, is it?" He shrugged. "Oh well, if you must know, I am Alvin the Treacherous."

She could almost feel Ari tense up. Alvin the Treacherous. An Outcast and a Pirate. The most feared in the Northern Ocean. They had only heard stories. Terrible, terrible stories. He had never been to Berk. The pair could only wonder what he was doing there, and shake in their boots knowing that it couldn't be good. When Alvin wanted something, he always got it, no matter who he had to kill.

Ari spoke again, sounding much stronger than Hiccup felt. "What do you want?"

"I told you," Alvin answered easily. "My Spanish girl." Suddenly, he smiled, gesturing to the sword in Ari's hand, Anna's sword. "Ah, so you do know her. I hope you haven't killed her. I was hoping to do that myself one day."

Why did he want Anna? Was she a slave? Hiccup didn't remember seeing a mark on her. Had she run away from him? Was that how she got to Berk? If she really was a slave, legally they would have to hand her over. But, if she wasn't, Hiccup knew a silent agreement had been made between her and Ari that they would protect her.

"So you would challenge the Vikings of this Island for one girl?" Ari asked, implying the strength of the warriors of the island.

"Oh!" Alvin exclaimed. "And the heir to the Haddock name. Did I mention that, too?"

If it were possible, the pair tensed up even more. The heir to the Haddock name. Hiccup. He was there for Hiccup. But... why? What could he possibly want with her?

"Besides," he went on, a sickening grin spreading out on his face, "I'm not challenging the whole island. The last time I checked, you six are the only ones out here, aren't you?"

What were they going to do? Fight? Kill him, if they could? More of his crew was sure to be on land, and the rest couldn't be far off shore. They had to warn the others. They had to get out of there. _Now._

Ari was the first to move. Quicker than she could blink, he had lunged forward and buried his sword in the chest of one of the men and then charged the other. Alvin lunged at Hiccup. Their swords collided as she blocked his swing.

Alvin was smiling again, making her shiver. He brought his face in close, between their swords. "Tell me," he said, "you wouldn't happen to know where the two people I'm looking for are, would you?"

_Two people...? _She hardly had time to think about it before the hilt of Ari's sword collided with the back of Alvin's head.

"Welcome to Berk," he growled as Alvin dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Hiccup was shaking. She observed the scene in front of her. Two men, motionless, blood surrounding them, dead. Ari had killed them. Just like that. Without even a thought. She looked at him, not knowing whether to hug him or cower in fear. But then his eyes found hers, and he looked back at her with such softness and concern. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by his arms, and she was gripping him tighter than she thought she ever had.

They didn't stay like that long. "Come on," he said, pulling away. "We have to get back, tell the others. We need to leave. If we go now, go through the forest instead of sail, we could probably stay ahead of them. It will take a couple of days, but hopefully search parties will have been sent for us by then."

Hiccup shook her head, making fists with her hands to will her trembling to stop. "He doesn't know," she told him. "Who the heir is. He doesn't know."

Ari looked back down at the unconscious man, nodding. "Let's keep it that way," he said, kneeling down to bind his hands.

"Ari..." she said softly, worried that any sound could wake Alvin. She asked him what they were both thinking, though neither had the answers. "How did they know? That we were alone, that one of us is the heir? What do they want?"

He shook his head in answer before throwing Alvin over his shoulder and standing all in one motion.

"We're taking him with us?"

"Yes," he told her. "It would be pointless to leave him here. He'd just follow our tracks when he woke up."

"You're not going to..." she swallowed. "To..."

"Kill him?" He shook his head. "Not my place. Besides, we can use him if his crew catches up with us. Now come on. Anna has some explaining to do."

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Shocked wasn't a fair enough word to describe Anna's face as Ari dropped Alvin's limp body in front of her. She looked confused, too. And frightened.

"Okay, seriously?" came Snotlout. "You guys have really need to stop bringing people back to camp."

Ari ignored him. "Do you know him?" he asked Anna urgently, unable to hide the anger in his voice. He took out her bloody sword and threw it roughly on the ground beside her. "Him and two of his crew just attacked us, and they were asking for you." He knelt down and grabbed her left arm, pushing her sleeve up. No mark. "You're not a slave. So what are you? A spy?"

Hiccup thought of trying to calm him or explain to Anna in Spanish, but she was still shook up, and her brain wasn't working fast enough to translate.

"Who is that?" Ruff asked, kneeling in front of him.

"Alvin," Anna answered for them.

Their eyes all flashed to her. "Alvin the Treacherous?" Tuff asked. A wide smile broke out on his face. "_No way._"

"Yes way," Ari growled. "And we need to leave _now._ The rest of the crew are probably already on their way."

"The rest of his crew are already here."

All six of them readied their weapons at the men that had just entered the camp. There were only four of them, so the group thought they could take them.

"Uh, guys?" came Fishlegs. "They're not alone."

Hiccup turned around, taking in all the Pirates as they started coming in from what seemed like every direction. There were dozens of them. There was no way the six of them could take them all. Hiccup stepped back, fear entering her heart, only to come in contact with a hard surface. At first she thought it was a tree. She yelp when she realized it wasn't, strong, massive arms grabbing her, a hand bigger than her face covering her mouth. She looked up at him, frightened even more by his face. Dark features, black eyes, a scar running through one of them. At first glance, he was terrifying.

"Hiccup!" Ari called, starting toward her and her captor. He had a look in his eye, one that frightened Hiccup, just as he had earlier. He looked ready to kill. But he didn't make it far. Alvin's eyes shot open. His leg shot out, knocking Ari off his feet and on his back.

Ari quickly moved to get up, but stopped as Alvin placed his boot on the boy's chest. Alvin was tossed a sword. He 'tisked' down at Ari in disapproval. "Now, now. I won't have you killing any more of my men." He used his sword to unbind his wrists, then pressed it to Ari's throat. Ari looked up at him with pure hatred, that same murderous look in his eye. "You've killed two already, haven't you? Well," he sighed, "as I always say, 'blood for blood'. With the exception of myself, of course."

Hiccup, realizing what he was going to do, shrieked into her captor's palm before she could stop herself. Alvin turned to her in surprise. Then, a sick smile grew on his face.

"Oh, my dear," he said, as if he were talking to a small child. "You should not have done that. Now i'll have to kill you first while I make him watch." He motioned for her captor to bring her forward.

"Stop."

All heads turned this time, and all eyes landed on Anna, still sitting there, tied to the tree. "Stop," she repeated, looking straight at Alvin. The teen's minds reeled, first surprised that Anna knew a single Norse word, and second that she had made Alvin pause what he was doing.

"Anna!" Alvin smiled. "I was wondering where you were. Someone untie her." Someone did. "They weren't mean to you, where they?" She ignored his question, standing up and brushing herself off. "Now, why have stopped me? I was just about to have some fun."

Her face had changed from how it had been the past two days. While before she had been animated, generally scowling or looking confused freely, now it was as if she had no emotion at all. She avoided all the teen's hard stares as she met Alvin's eyes.

"He's the one you want," she said, speaking perfect Norse. She gestured down to Ari. "You kill him, you won't get what you want. You kill her," she gestured to Hiccup, "and I doubt he'll give it to you."

"Ah," Alvin smiled down at Ari. "So you are the boy Haddock. I should have guessed." He pointed his sword to Ari's jaw, turning his head to examine his features. He nodded in approval. "Handsome, strong, ruthless. What do they call you?"

Ari? They thought Ari was a Haddock? Heir to the tribe? Hiccup looked at Anna, trying to figure out if she really believed it of if she was making it up to protect her. Knowing now that Anna spoke Norse and that she was freely involved with Alvin, Hiccup didn't know what to believe.

But she knew Ari, and she knew that he wouldn't deny it. He would take the name they thought he was, bear the weight of whatever was meant for Hiccup, and the others wouldn't dare stand in his way or expose her. And what could Hiccup do? It was her word against his, and Ari was a much more convincing candidate.

It was several moments until Ari answered Alvin's question. When he did, he spat his words out like a snake. "Ari Haddock, the Stouthearted."

Alvin looked mockingly taken aback. "Oh my. It's too perfect." He chuckled. "Yes, I do believe we are going to get along quite well."

Tuffnut was looking at Anna once the exchange finished. "So you do speak Norse," he said, accusation and betrayal clear in his voice.

"And she's a traitor," Snotlout added.

Anna met Tuff's hard gaze. Her eyes flickered for just a moment, emotion making a split second appearance. But she quickly tore her attention away from him and back to Alvin.

"Oh," Alvin addressed Tuffnut. "She didn't tell you? She speaks it fluently." He turned to Snotlout. "And try not to take it too personally. She was just doing her job. If it'll will make you feel better, I could just kill you. You'll forget all of this like that." He snapped his fingers.

"Restrain yourself, Captain," Anna spoke again. "It would be unwise to kill any of them. They're very attached to one another."

"Anna," Alvin chided playfully. He stepped off Ari, whom someone then immediately bound at the wrists, and moved in front of the Spanish girl. He got down to her level and brushed a brown lock out of her face. "Am I detecting a change of heart?"

Her eyes shot up to him, the scowl back and showing no remorse. "_No,_" she said firmly. "They're _Vikings_." She shook her head. "I just think it will help us down the road. Besides, you'll need as many as you can get in the end. They are all skilled fighters."

After a moment, Alvin sighed. "Very well." He made a circular motion with his fingers, which then put all the pirates into action. All the teens were forced from their weapons and bound. The rest of the pirates were making a mess of the camp, tossing things about, setting them on fire.

"You're kidnapping us?" Ari asked as they were being led away. "They'll come after you, you know. The whole Island. My father will send them all. He'll come for me."

"Oh, my dear boy," Alvin smiled at him. "How will daddy save you if he thinks you're dead?"

Hiccup's blood ran cold as she saw what was being hauled into their camp. Five of the crew carrying limp bodies. _Dead _bodies. They threw them all down in a line in the middle of the camp.

"A few slaves of mine that didn't make it," Alvin explained. "Turns out, if you stop giving them water, eventually they just die." He shrugged. Hiccup shivered.

"Captain." A boy, younger looking and shorter than the rest, approached him. "We are short one."

Alvin rolled his eyes. "Must I do everything myself?" With that, he quickly grabbed the boy and slit his throat. Hiccup shrieked into the large palm again as the boy fell heavily to the ground.

"You monster," Ruffnut sneered at him, earning her a slap in the face and a gag.

Alvin seemed hardly bothered. "Someone take care of this," he said, stepping over the body. "And light them up. I don't want to see anything left but bones."

The bodies were lit just as the teen's captors were leading them out of sight. That's when Ari lost it.

Quicker than anyone could blink, Ari headbutted the guy holding him. He fell to the ground, and Ari jumped, swinging his his bound arms from behind him to his front under his legs. But instead of attacking as men charged him, he stood still. Instead, he grabbed the whistle that hung around his neck and blew as hard as he could, making everyone's ears ring. Then he shouted, louder than Hiccup had ever heard him or thought possible.

"FREYJA!"

It echoed through the frozen forest. Everyone stood still until the last echo sounded. They all eyed him curiously, the only ones aware of what he was trying to do being Hiccup, the twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. Finally, Alvin was the first to move. He brought the hilt of his sword down on Ari's head, and the boy crumpled to the ground.

"As I said, 'blood for blood'." Alvin rubbed the back of his head. "Or, in this case, a headache for a headache." He turned to the men holding the teens. "Put them all out. I don't want anyone else shouting nonsense to the wind. It's slowing us down."

The last thing Hiccup thought, the last thing she prayed before the hilt came down on her head, was that somehow, someway, Ari's call wasn't just to the wind. She prayed to Thor for Freyja to have heard him.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Little did they know, Freyja did hear.

She was flying a good distance away, but she was closer to them than she was to the Village.

The sound was faint, but she perked up when she heard it. Her boy's whistle. He was calling her to him. But then she heard his voice, the echo bouncing off the landscape. He was shouting that noise he always called her.

But this time was different. She knew he didn't want to fly. No. His voice was much harder. Urgent. He needed her. He was in trouble. So was his mate. They all were. Her boy, Ari. He was in trouble.

She turned sharply, headed straight into the direction he had called, flying as fast as her wings would take her.

Ari was in trouble.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

Hiccup was the first to regain consciousness, her eyes flashing open at the sound of a Nadder's shriek.

The Pirates were in an uproar. Hiccup was dropped to the ground, her massive guard leaving her as he and others charged Freyja as she landed on the beach. There were more Pirates on the beach than had been at their camp. There were too many of them, too many for one Nadder to take on their own. Hiccup tried to get up, to somehow stop them, but she couldn't. Both her ankles and her wrists were tied.

"Stop!" she shouted at them, trying to be heard over all the yelling and Freyja's skwaks. "Stop! Don't hurt her!"

The other teens were waking up as well. Ari started yelling, too, trying to shout commands at her, to tell her to fly away. But it was useless. Freyja couldn't hear him, couldn't listen, and she wouldn't. She would try to save them, even though there were too many of them for her to keep up with.

"Stop!" Hiccup kept shouting. They were beating her, their swords and hammers striking her sides. Tears started streaming down her face. "Stop! Please! Stop!"

She turned to Anna, desperate, to see her eyeing her curiously. "Please," she begged, "you have to stop them!"

Anna just kept staring at her, her eyes clear in what she was asking. _Why would you care?_ Hiccup tore her eyes away in frustration. She found Ari, fighting again, dodging swords and punching men out with his bound fists, trying to get to Freyja. He didn't make it.

Ropes were thrown over the dragon. The Pirates pulled, forcing her down to the ground while several others held her head.

A man turned to Alvin. "Captain?"

Alvin shrugged, stepping forward and drawing his sword. "You dumb brutes damaged this one too much. We'll get another later on."

Hiccup knew, just before he did it, what was going to happen. They all did. And there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that they could do. Hiccup's shouts had stopped as she stared in horror. The only thing that could be heard as Alvin buried his sword into Freyja's breast was one last shout from Ari, and then a finally squeak from the Nadder before she fell silent.

Freyja was dead.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**Well, I warned you. Not that that made it any better... but still. **_

_**I don't have much to say about this chapter, except that I want to know what you guys think. Do you like (hate) Alvin? Thoughts on Anna? Guesses? Death threats for killing off Freyja? Feel free to tell me any and all. :)**_

_**And now, a quote from the upcoming story, 'Through the Eyes of Children: The Warriors'. This one comes from... Martyr! **_

_**"I love you, Hiccup. I have all my life."**_

_**Oh dear. Hope he's not saying that with Ari nearby... **_

_**Until next week!**_

_**~StoriesOfAnInsomniac**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hello there. Happy Monday!**_

_**So, I'm just going to stop making promises on when I am going to post. Plan on over the weekend. Some weeks, I may even post twice. It all just depends on how far ahead I am on writing and how much I have to edit, but I can promise you that it will never be over two weeks.**_

_**Alright! Chapter 10! A whole lot is about to go down in this chapter. You're about to be introduced to Alvin's crew, along with three new characters. Yup, three! Camicazi and Thuggery, both of whom are in the books, and Julian. Julian does not belong to me either, though. In fact, he belongs to Megadracosaurus, who helped me create him along with one other character that you will meet later. **_

**_The second part of this chapter is pretty chaotic, just to warn you. There's a lot of talking, and Camicazi is... shall we say, hyperactive. She'll tone it down a little in the next chapter, but I really had to capture her character and personality in the introduction. Hope you guys like my portrayal of her. :)_**

**_Anyway, enough talk. Most of you guys probably don't read this anyways. On with the story!_**

**_Enjoy!_**

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

They were thrown into a boat.

Hiccup, Ari, and Tuffnut were in one boat, the other three in another. There were several of them along the shoreline. The Pirates were piling into them, pushing out into the water and away from land. Hiccup watched as they started floating away, the smoke from their supplies and the bodies in their camp rising over the trees, their boat burning on shore, and Freyja's still corpse on the beach.

She was trying to force herself to calm down, to hold face, even though her heart was broken at what had just occurred. She couldn't let the Pirates, Alvin, see her was weak, couldn't let them ask questions on why they cared so much about Freyja. It might have been too late for that now, what with the things she was shouting at them when they were killing her. She prayed that Anna was the only one who had been listening.

It was a battle just to fight back the tears. She looked at Ari to find him in a similar state. His jaw hard, his eyes locked forward, every muscle tight. His eyes were wet, the tears showing despite his best efforts. It shocked her, and only broke her heart even further. She had never seen Ari cry before, hadn't even thought it possible. Yet, here he was, the Perfect Viking, water threatening to spill from his eyes.

Her heart ached for him. She couldn't even imagine, couldn't even bring herself to try, what he was feeling. He had just lost Freyja, his best friend, his dragon, the one he bonded with and flew with everyday. She was dead. She shuddered just at the thought of losing Toothless.

She wanted to reach out to him, wrap him up in her arms, bury his head in her shoulder, let him cry freely away from other eyes. But she couldn't. They were prisoners of Alvin the Treacherous, bound at the wrists and squished into a rowboat with a dozen Pirates. Here, they had to be strong. But there was one thing she could do.

Slowly, so as not to be noticed, she shifted next to Ari, turning slightly to the side. Then, as best she could, she reached her bound hands over and slipped them into his.

Ari reacted immediately. He blinked, a single stray tear falling down, and his hands clasped so quickly and so tightly around hers that it hurt. She squeezed back as hard as she could, not even noticing the pain, not that she would care.

They were on the boat for several minutes, the Pirates rowing away further and further from shore. Hiccup was so out of it, so overwhelmed, that she didn't even notice that they were nearing a ship until Tuffnut kicked her, making her look up.

Her breath caught in her throat. She stared, wide eyed, as a shadow began to cast over them. This ship, this Pirate ship, was nothing like she anything she had ever seen before. 'Big' wasn't a fair enough word to describe it. It was huge. Gigantic. Easily ten times, if not more, the size of one of their Viking Vessels. So large, it had three masts, each with three sails on it. And just how far it was out of the water… Hiccup didn't know how they were going to get in it.

"Ari," she whispered, trying to break through his haze. She squeezed his hand. "Ari, look."

He blinked. His eyes came back into focus. He looked up. He blinked again, and suddenly he was back. His eyes narrowed. He scowled. Ari was back, and he was angry.

They came up right alongside the ship, and a latter was thrown over the side. A few of the pirates went up first, then, instead of untying them and letting them climb like Hiccup thought they would, her original captor, the giant, instead threw her over his shoulder and climbed the latter.

Hiccup fell roughly on her side on the deck. When she looked up, she found herself surrounded by sickening grins and sharp swords. She tried to stand, scrambling to her feet to back up away from them, but she was grabbed roughly by two men behind her and forced back onto her knees. Ari was soon forced down next to her, Tuff on her other side, and then the others further down all in a line.

Looking about the deck, Hiccup could only see two women. One was Anna, standing off to the side, trying her best to avoid any sort of eye contact, so it seemed. The other one, a young girl with black hair and eyes, stood next to Anna leaning against the railing, looking bored and eating something Hiccup couldn't identify.

The rest of the Pirates were men, whom were currently having a lot of fun with the six of them. Calling various inappropriate comments towards her and Ruffnut, they would provoke threats and violent responses from Ruff herself, Snotlout, Tuff, and, surprisingly, one from Fishlegs as well. Ari was still, silent. He didn't even flinch as they poked and prodded at him, trying to provoke him to fight.

This continued for several minutes, the boys getting angrier and angrier. But just as Hiccup was sure that someone was going to snap, that blood was going to be spilled, all went silent as a pair of boots hit the deck.

Alvin straightened the cuff on his sleeve, 'tsking' as he made his way over to the young Vikings. "Now, now," he told his crew, "please do not unnecessarily damage the new merchandise. After all, they will be defending our lives in a few days. We want them all to be in tip-top shape."

Snotlout sneered at him. "What makes you think we'll ever fight for the likes of you?" This earned him a punch in the gut by one of his captors.

Alvin answered him. "Do not deny anything before you have seen it, my boy. You will see. Soon, you will all be fighting for me willingly." He smiled, then stepped directly in front of the boy. He made his way down the line slowly, examining each of them carefully. He nodded in approval, humming in delight.

"Ah, yes," he said. "The Northern Islanders grow the best warriors. Fresh, young, strong Vikings. Born to kill, bred to die." He shivered with pleasure."Gives me goosebumps." His crew around him laughed. "And here I have the best of the best. The Vikings of Berk, fresh from their right of passage. Yes, you will all work perfectly."

Hiccup's mind was going crazy. There they were, far off shore, held captive on the Pirate ship of Alvin the Treacherous, and she didn't have the slightest idea as to why. All she knew was that Alvin wanted the heir to the Haddock name, but not the reason. He had kept them all alive so far, and though she hated to think it, this was thanks to Anna. But why keep the rest of them alive at all when all he wanted was the heir? What did he and Anna mean when they said they would help them in the end? And why did they hesitate right before they killed Freyja? It could all be summed up in one simple question.

What did they want?

Alvin stopped suddenly in front of Tuffnut. He frowned, stepping up to the boy and grabbing his chin, turning his face side to side. "Anna," he scolded, turning to the girl. He gestured to Tuff's bruised face and broken nose. "What did I tell you about playing with my toys? You always break them!" Anna shrugged, doing her best to avoid Tuff's eyes. Alvin sighed, turning back to him. "Well, all your limbs are still intact. You'll do." Then he got to Hiccup.

He frowned again. "You, however, I do not understand at all. What are you, other than the interest of this young man?" He pointed at Ari. "Even that doesn't make sense to me."

Hiccup didn't know how to answer. Ari had taken her name and position, and she was a terrible liar. What was she to say? But she didn't have to. Anna answered for her.

"A Port hand, perhaps," she said, drawing the attention of Alvin. "Or the daughter of the Master Translator. Either way, she must spend a lot of time on the docks and around trade ships. She knows Spanish."

Hiccup wasn't sure which she was more surprised at, the fact that Anna was so quick to sell her out (which, based on recent events, shouldn't have been all that surprising), or the fact that she was so wrong. The closest thing Berk had to a Master Translator was Gobber, who helped her father oversee the trades that came in, but that was mostly just when it involved new metals and weapon designs. Spitelout, her uncle and Snotlout's father, knew several languages too. Between the three of them, they all knew all the languages they ever came across. Both her father and Gobber had been teaching her in the past half-year. And there was no way Hiccup could be a Port hand. She wouldn't be able to stand being on the docks all the time.

All of this only added to her confusion and made her look at Anna again, wondering if the young Spanish woman actually believed what she was saying or if she was making it up. If she was, why?

"Really?" Alvin turned back to her, eyebrows raised. He looked her over again. "Hm. You don't look worked enough to be a Port hand. But the daughter of a Master Translator… I can see how that would be useful." He started circling around her slowly. "But only in a situation such as the one you ran into with Anna. Other than that, what do you have to offer this group aside from somewhat decent archery?" He rounded her completely, coming back to face her. "Your small, weak, emotionally unstable, and you have a limp. Were you born infirm?"

Hiccup blinked at his having noticed. She waited for Anna to tell him about her prosthetic. But, once again, Anna surprised her. She kept silent.

Alvin sighed and continued pacing, not even waiting for Hiccup to answer. "If you were on my ship, I would have killed you a long time ago. Oh wait. You are on my ship!" The crew laughed once more. Hiccup felt Ari tense up beside her. "But sadly, Anna has forbade me to kill you. It seems that I'll have to keep you alive for now." He pointed his hook at Ari's throat, forcing him to look up. "That is, if I'm going to get what I want from the boy Haddock."

More soft laughter from the crew. Ari took a few even breaths before he spoke. "And what is it that you want from us?" he asked through bared teeth.

A secretive smile grew on the man's face. "Oh, my boy," he said, leaning in close. "But that would ruin the surprise." He stepped back and addressed his crew. "Throw them in the Brig!"

Once again, everyone on the ship started moving all at once. Sails were being dropped, ropes pulled. An anchor rose from the water. They were dragged to their feet, then pulled towards stairs descending into the ship. And the last thing Hiccup saw before she was pushed down the stairs was her home, Berk, as it started to fade off into the distance, without even the slightest hope of ever seeing it again.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

"Oof!"

They were brought down to a level of cells. Three lined each wall, with a large one in the back covered by a sheet. They were each put into one of the six cages. Hiccup was in the middle on one side, Ari and Fishlegs next to her on either side. Tuff was in the middle on the other end, his sister and Snotlout on either side of him. The thing was, not all of the cells were empty.

Hiccup was pushed roughly into hers, where her back collided into someones chest. Arms came up and caught her. Lips were pressed to her ear as the mystery person breathed, "Hello, Hiccup."

She tore away from him, stumbling back and turning around to face him. The tall, young man chuckled. "Long time no see," he said.

She squinted up at him, trying to make him out in the dim lighting with her eyes not having yet adjusted. "...Thuggery?" she asked in disbelief. She took him in. He was taller since the last time she saw him, his arms bigger, a nearly full beard starting to grow. Still, she would know that mess of dark hair and friendly smile anywhere.

He chuckled again and shrugged. "In the flesh." He nodded in Ari's direction in the cell next to them. "Hey, man." Ari gave him an uncertain nod, looking just as confused as Hiccup.

Thuggery, heir to the Meathead Tribe. The last time she saw him was over two years ago, when him and his father were visiting their island with some of the officials from their tribe. She hadn't seen him since, the visit having ended badly because of a 'disagreement' between their fathers over an arm wrestling competition.

What were the chances, of him being on Alvin's ship, being up in her cell? She was just about to ask him what he was doing there when a cry from Ruff caused them both to turn.

"Get your hands off me, creep!" she shouted at her cellmate.

The young man held his hands up in defence, a cocky smile on his face. "Whoa there, little darlin'," he said, pushing his brown locks out of his sea green eyes. "I'm one of the good guys."

"Obviously not. You're locked in a cell, moron!" she shot back.

"Pirates locked me in this cell, sweetheart," he deadpanned. "And believe me, my intentions were honorable. I was just trying to untie you."

She huffed in irritation and pulled a blade from her boot that the Pirates had missed, pushing him back against the bars and the blade to his throat. "Don't call me 'sweetheart'," she warned.

"Whoa there, hold on," came Thuggery. "Come on Ruff, I can vouch for Julian. He may be stupid, but he's harmless."

The green eyed boy, Julian apparently, looked hardly bothered by this comment. His cocky smile reappeared. "There, see?" he said, gently pushing the blade away from his throat. "Now why don't you put that knife away before you hurt yourself. Don't want to be cuttin' up those pretty little hands of yours."

"What he means to say," Thuggery interrupted before Ruff ran Julian through, "is that you should put the knife away before a guard comes in and find you with it."

"Wait," Ruff stopped, momentarily choosing to forget about Julian and stepping up to the bars, after pushing the boy to the ground, of course. She squinted at Thuggery through the bars across the aisle. "Thuggery?"

He smiled. "Yes, ma'am. Good to see you again, Ruff." He winked at her. Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, Ruff's cheeks took on a deep shade of red.

"Hang on," came Julian, righting himself and coming up next to Ruff, causing her to glare at him. "Thug, you know these Vikings?"

Thuggery chuckled again. "These aren't just any Vikings," he told Julian. "These are the Viking's of Berk, and the heir to the Haddock name." He gestured at Hiccup.

Julian's eyes went wide. "No way," he said. He pointed at Hiccup. "You're Hiccup the Dragon Conqueror?" He frowned. "You sure, Thug? She's kind of small."

"And she's standing right there, idiot," Tuff sneered, coming up to the bars connecting their cells.

In the next second, Ruff had him pinned to the ground, his arm pulled tightly behind his back. "And she's our friend," she spat.

Julian just chuckled weakly through the pain. "You have no idea how turned on I am right now."

"Julian, shut up," Thuggery warned him. He looked at Ruff. "Please excuse him. Like I said, he's not that bright, nor does he know how to talk to attractive young women." Ruff's face went red again. Fishlegs frowned. "But seriously, guys," Thug addressed the group. "We going to be stuck with each other for a while, so may as well get used to this." Suddenly, a distinct snore sounded through the air, silencing everyone.

"Uhm, guys?" came Snotlout. "There's one in my cell, too."

There was, in fact. Huddled in the corner under a blanket, a small figure snored loudly. Slowly, Snotlout approached the figure and reached out his hand.

"Um, I wouldn't-" Thuggery tried to warn, but it was too late.

As soon as Snotlout's hand came in contact with their shoulder, the figure shot upright and had a sword pointed directly at him.

"Stand still or die!" the girl cried.

"What the Hel?" Snotlout exclaimed, stepping back against the bars. "Relax, we're prisoners, just like you!"

"I don't believe you!" she said. "You're Roman spies! Draw your swords and fight like men, you cowards!"

"Viking's of Berk, Camicazi. Camicazi, Viking's of Berk," Thuggery introduced. "Now would you please put that sword away?"

She straightened up, suddenly calm. She even smiled. "Berkians, huh? Fancy meeting you lot here."

"Camicazi…" Hiccup mumbled thoughtfully, stepping up to the bars. She looked her over. She was small, just a few inches taller than Hiccup herself. Long blond hair, down her back. Deep brown eyes. She looked hauntingly familiar. "Don't I know you?"

"Camicazi," she introduced herself, sheathing her sword. "Heir to the Bog-Burgler Tribe." She gave a little bow.

"Great Odin's Ghost," Ruffnut shook her head. "This ship is full of royals."

"Way to immediately give yourself away," Julian scoffed. "No wonder Alvin caught you."

"Hey!" Camicazi burst out, springing forward and gripping the bars facing his cell. "Shut it, pretty boy! You have no room to talk! We were on this ship for three days, three days, and you got caught!"

"Three days?" Snotlout asked, frowning. "How long have you guys been on this ship? Are you undercover or something? And how did you get your sword back, anyway?"

Camicazi raised an eyebrow, approaching him slowly. "You're certainly curious. What's your name, muscles?"

Snotlout gulped uncertainly as she backed him against the bars. "Snotlout," he answered.

"Snotlout, huh?" She shrugged, then smiled. "I could dig it, hot stuff." He gulped again as she winked, then she stepped back. "To answer your question, we've been on this ship for almost two months. And, as you will learn, you can't keep a Bog-Burglar from her sword. I got it back the last time I broke out of here."

"You've been locked up in this cell for two months?" Ruff asked Julian in disbelief.

Julian shrugged. "Mostly." He smiled. "I get to scrub the deck on good behavior."

More conversation ensued, but Hiccup wasn't listening. Her eyes were still focused on Camicazi, trying to put the pieces together. "You're Martyr's sister?" She asked her. She clamped her mouth shut, immediately regretting having asked. If she was, which she was, then she would know about her 'engagement' to Martyr, and that was definitely not something she wanted brought up at the moment. She was suddenly very aware of Ari's presence just behind her.

The blond turned to her. "Yup, that's me!" She opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off, thankfully, by Tuffnut.

"So, wait a minute," he said. "Alvin has three heirs from three different tribes locked up on his ship? That can't be coincidence."

He was right, Hiccup thought, though it only made her more confused. It didn't make sense why Alvin wanted just the Haddock heir, let alone all three heirs from three of the most powerful Tribes in the Northern Sea.

"Ah, but it is!" Camicazi told him. "Thuggery and I are here by choice. In fact, the only reason we're still alive is because Alvin, sadly, isn't dumb enough to kill the Princess of the Bog-Burglars or the Prince of the Meatheads. No, the only person Alvin really wants here," she paused, then pointed right at Hiccup, "is you."

"Yeah, we got that," Ari spoke up for the first time. "But why?"

Camicazi didn't get to answer. The door to the cells opened and a very fat man walked in. "Light's out," he said, stomping up to the only two lit candles to blow them out."

"Really, Glen? Really?" Camicazi asked. "It's hours before sunset! Are you just naturally mean or is it because your fat? Does torturing us make you feel skinnier?"

The guard just rolled his eyes at her, though his face was flushed an angry red. "No," he said. "I just can't stand to see you're ugly face anymore." With that, he blew out the candles and started walking out.

"I swear to Thor, Glen!" Camicazi shouted after him, grabbing the bars and climbing up on them. "You'll regret this! You're the first person I kill when I take this ship, you fat bastard!"

The guard just laughed at her. "Yeah, good luck with that, blondie." The door slammed shut. Camicazi fell into a sitting position, grumbling a few colorful words under her breath.

"He's right though," Thuggery addressed the Berkians. "You lot should get some rest."

"You're taking his side?!" Camicazi cried, gesturing toward the door.

Someone pounded on the door. "Hey, shut up!" Glen shouted at her.

"Oh yeah?" Camicazi called back. "Why don't you come in here and make me, you-" She was cut off, Snotlout being sensible yet stupid enough to clasp his hand over her mouth.

She kept shouting things into his palm, demanding to be let go. Snotlout didn't budge. "Are you insane?" he hissed. "You're going to get us all killed!"

"Oh, Glen won't kill her," Thuggery waved him off. "No one on this ship would dare. Besides," he said a bit louder, "I think fighting with Camicazi is the only joy he gets out of life."

Glen pounded on the door again. "Last warning!"

Thuggery shrugged, though he was smiling. "Sleep well, everyone."

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

Hiccup woke to a soft sob.

She hadn't been sleeping long. She laid awake for hours, her mind racing over all that had occurred in just half a day. Anna worked for Alvin. Freyja was dead. When her father came looking for them, he would think they were dead. They were locked up in cells on Alvin the Treacherous' Pirate ship, heading Odin knows where. They were getting farther and farther away from home by the minute. Alvin wanted her, but he thought he wanted Ari. They didn't know why. Two more heirs to different tribes were on the ship, too. Thuggery and Camicazi, along with their friend Julian. But apparently, they had nothing to do with what Alvin wanted, though they knew what it was. She had tried to go over it again and again, trying to make sense of it. But, eventually, it was too much for her mind to handle and she fell into a fitful sleep. Until, that is, she was awoken by the sound of someone crying.

She opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that Ari wasn't in front of her. They had fallen asleep facing each other, on opposite sides of the bars, holding hands. Now, he was sitting in a crouched position a few feet away, his back pressed against the bars, facing away from her. Another soft sob. It took Hiccup a few seconds to realize it had come from him.

Ari was crying. In the dark of the night, when everyone else was asleep, Ari had granted himself this moment to grieve, away from prying eyes. Hiccup's heart broke for him. Of course. Freyja.

Hiccup's stomach hurt just at the thought of losing Toothless. She couldn't even bring herself to imagine. Ari had lost his dragon. His flying companion. His best friend. It was a bond that only the Vikings of Berk were even beginning to understand. The trust that was built between two once enemies, the trust not to kill each other, to fly with each other, to perform stunts no one previous had even imagined. It was a trust that ran a connection deep within the pair, straight to their core. A bond similar and almost as highly valued as that of a lover. And now, for Ari, that bond was broken.

Hiccup felt tears come to her eyes. Ari made another soft sound, like a whimper. She had a moment of worry, wondering if she was intruding on something very private. But she wouldn't, couldn't, let him bear the weight of this loss on his own. She wasn't afraid to cry in front of Ari. She cared about him enough, and knew that he cared about her enough, that she knew he wouldn't hold it against her. She hoped that he wouldn't be afraid to weep in her presence either.

Slowly, so as not to startle him, she lifted herself up into a sitting position and scooched over to him, facing his back. Then, carefully, gently, she reached her arms through the bars, under his arms and around his chest. He tensed up at first. Hiccup thought he might pull away, try to cover it up or say he was fine. But, after a few agonizing seconds, he did just the opposite. One of his hands came up, clasping tightly around hers over his heart, while his other covered his wet face. His shoulders shook violently.

"Shh…" she whispered in his ear, her free hand stroking him soothingly. The tears had already started falling down her face. She didn't bother telling him that everything was fine or that they were going to be okay. Everything was not fine, obviously, and she had no idea what the future held for them. So, instead, she settled with the truth. "I'm right here."

He shuddered, then nodded his head, another quiet sob escaping him. She hugged him tighter. They stayed like that, for how long neither knew nor cared, crying and comforting each other in the darkness of the ship until they both fell asleep.

_**~~~~~~~~~~~~~a sexy line~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

**_Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Requests? I take them all. :)_**

**_Seriously though, what did you guys think? Any predictions? Think I captured different voices and characters well enough? It was definitely a struggle, let me tell you._**

**_Well, next chapter, we get into a little bit of why Camicazi and Thuggery are on board, why Alvin wants the heir on bored, and then a little bit of Stoick and Toothless point of view. Sound good? No worries. It's going to be great. :)_**

**_Last but not least, here's a quote from the upcoming story, "Through the Eyes of Children: The Warriors". This one is from... Spitelout!_**

**_"I am loyal to you to the death, just as I was your father."_**

**_I can't wait to start posting that. It's going to be amazing. :D_**

**_Until next time!_**

**_~StoriesOfAnInsomniac_**


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